Perfect Son
by togwtos
Summary: Sun will be Lusamine's perfect son.
1. wake up my little boy

**This is a work of fiction. The types of relationship, and the acts presented in this story, are not reflective of the author's personal tastes, nor are they supported or endorsed by the author. This story is intended for mature readers, and the author implores you to step back if you are affected in any way by any of the raised and listed themes, as they will be fully explored.  
These include, but are not limited to:**

 **Torture**  
 **Abuse, both physical and mental**  
 **Body horror**  
 **Kidnapping/abduction**  
 **Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)**  
 **Rape/noncon**  
 **Incest**  
 **Suicide/self-harm**  
 **Drug use**

 **With these themes and this warning in mind, take caution and read responsibly. Thank you for reading.**

* * *

 **Part One: Perfect Son  
**

* * *

Sun was alone. Completely, terrifyingly alone. Some thick, sticky liquid - assumedly blood - ran down from his forehead, and a throbbing pain reinforced that assumption.  
He couldn't see. Darkness pressed in on his eyeballs. They ached with a dull buzzing, and his body felt alien somehow, as if he'd only just been put in control. He tried to raise an arm but felt no response.

He didn't know how long he had been there. He felt like something had changed since he was last in the pit. Was he there hours ago, or days? It was impossible to keep track of time. It was a square space, maybe just over a metre on all sides. He had to curl up to fit inside.

He couldn't cry anymore. He understood crying would get him nothing. He lay for a minute, an hour, two, three. Or maybe it was merely fifteen minutes alone in the cold and the dark.

They'd let him out eventually. Night time, usually. They didn't have much of a choice - they'd kidnapped him. If he was seen they were in for a lot of questions, none of which would look good for them.

He struggled to remember what had happened and when it clicked he immediately regretted the attempt. He had been strapped down and something new had been put into him before he was knocked out - put straight into his eyes. He didn't know what they wanted. Revenge seemed likely.

He'd helped them, Lillie and Gladion. He'd let them get away with Hau. He'd stopped Nebby from opening the door to the other world. _She_ had caught him as he tried to run and held him back as the others made it to safety.

His head flared up with pain again. It hurt to think, to recall anything. That was probably intentional. The Foundation would've killed him by now if they didn't want him for something. He had been tearing a path through the Alola region, beating down the trials in a record time. They wanted him for some nefarious purpose alright.

The most he could hope to do was sleep, but the trapdoor leaked badly, and there was a tropical storm of momentous proportions assaulting the Paradise. His chest was soaked, and the bottom of the pit was an inch deep in rainwater. It was hell on earth, his bones aching with contortion, his backside and legs sopping wet, partially submerged.

Sun prayed, to the island guardians who he hoped were watching over him, to Arceus, to anything and everything that may be listening. And then a light shone down into the pit as the doors were thrown open.

Sun thought he was saved.

He was wrong.

"Oh, my-" came the now all too familiar voice. "Look at you," she cooed. "Look at you."

She was towering over him, a silhouette in the dark, a foreboding monolith of a woman. Lillie's mother, Lusamine. He felt someone - no, two - three - others reach down into the pit, clamp down on his shoulders and lift him up.

They tossed him down onto his side, and it felt like his shoulder broke as he hit the deck of the Paradise. He couldn't scream - he didn't have the breath in his lungs nor the strength in his soul. He just growled his agony through gritted teeth.

Something sharp dug into his back, grinding against his spine painfully. "I've missed this," Lusamine's voice spoke through the searing, jagged sensation. "A shame it won't last."

"What- what do you want with me?" Sun choked into the white platform. There was a thin film of water on the deck of the Paradise which just made the experience of lying flat on his front, face down, all the more uncomfortable.

As the sharp object moved onto his neck and something else pushed down on his face, he realised it was Lusamine's heel that had traced up his vertebrae and onto the back of his throat. He was already drenched by the storm. "I don't want anything with you. I want what you'll _be_. What I'll make you. What I _have_ made you."

Sun couldn't make head nor tail of what she had said, and tried to resist her pushing down against him to no avail. "Please, let me go," he begged. "I - I want to-"

"Soon, my dear, you'll want nothing more than to be right here with me. Pick him up, would you?" Her foot's pressure was relieved from him, and he felt that pressure replaced by the iron grip of some thugs, maybe Team Skull, maybe the Foundation.

Struggling feebly earned him a hook that made his head snap to the left and completely disoriented him for a good minute. There was too much pain to think of anything at all. Warm rain fell on his skin, soothing somewhat. He clung to that sensation as he was dragged toward the mansion at the back of the Paradise.

Lusamine was speaking. "...and the two who I took the time to..." Sun didn't want to hear. Didn't care to, didn't think to, didn't need to. "...so I decided, take away what they..."

Time passed in a gradient. Black to white to black. To yellow. To either white or black it didn't matter. Sun's consciousness faded. 

* * *

_"Sun,"_ he heard his mother's voice. _"Sun? Wake up, my dear! Today's the day! We're moving at last! We're going to Alola! It's going to be a new start, a new chapter in our lives, we're getting away from here, from all of those - Sun, we're going to Alola! Where you'll shine all the time, in the sky and for me, Sun!  
_  
Sun? Sun, can you hear me?"

"Mom..." Sun murmured.

A sharp exhale of amusement was his response. "I didn't think it'd work so fast."

That was **not** the voice. Sun kept his eyes closed even as his skin crawled and the top of his spine grew cold with fear. He had a chance, maybe, if he ran. He had to plan it carefully, wait, then bolt for it.

He wasn't in the pit. There was soft lighting cast down on him, not the harsh fluorescent beams of the laboratories, nor the pitch darkness of the tiny box that had been his prison. Daring to open his eyes the tiniest amount, the smallest, unperceivable slit, he saw the clinical white of the room. He was in a bed. A real bed, with sheets. It was comfy. It was terrifying.

Why were they suddenly making him their guest? Or was this just some ploy to make him drop his guard? Breathing steadily, continuing to feign sleep, he waited for a moment to run for it. He resisted gasping as he felt cool fingers on his skin.

"Oh Sun, they've made you so beautiful..." Lusamine's voice whispered to him, much closer than he could have expected. Sun couldn't resist anymore. He breathed in a little too fast, pushed himself up and screamed.

He could have made it away, maybe. If he wasn't strapped to the bed around his waist, wrists and ankles. He was still an experiment. The realisation made his scream even more desperate, maddening. He screamed and screamed until it felt like his voice box was ripped asunder from the effort. He didn't look anywhere but straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge Lusamine. He struggled and struggled and struggled.

Nothing happened.

"Sun, please behave. Our hospitality is surely not terrible enough to justify that screaming fit, is it?"

"You- you've been torturing me- for-" he stopped, starting to hyperventilate.

"Sun, Sun, Sun," Lusamine repeated, in a high-pitched, fussing tone. "It was all worth it. You'll see. You're perfect now." She leaned over where he lay and put her hand on his cheek. "Oh, Sun." The words were dripping with twisted admiration.

Sun couldn't scream again. It'd hurt too much. He leaned forward as far as the straps would allow him to, and quietly sobbed to himself, Lusamine still fondly stroking his face as if his skin was some sort of expensive, rare velvet. "Sun, please," she mumbled, and he could barely hear her.

"Let me go," he whimpered. "Let me go home. I don't want to be your experiment. I want to go home."

"Too late," Lusamine crooned. "It's too late. You're mine now. It's too late for you to go back home, too late for you to 'not want' to be my experiment. And..." Her fingers went over his hand, stroking it once as if to reassure him before returning to his face. His skin crawled. "You're not an experiment, Sun. You're not like those rejects, you're not like the waste our less cognitive members churn out. I've made sure, personally, that you came out quite alright."

Sun finally clicked. That meant he was already at least halfway there. He had to be. She was speaking as if he was already 'complete', as if he was the finished product of whatever she was doing to him. As he realised this, Lusamine's hands left his bed, away from his face, his skin. She strolled casually behind him, where he couldn't so much as guess at what she could be doing. He heard something move, something shift, felt a shadow fall over him.

Her hands extended by his sides, slowly, sickeningly. She held a mirror up in her slender fingers and Sun's heart dropped. His blood froze. He wasn't him anymore. He was one of them.

How she had done it, he didn't know. But she had turned his eyes a poisonous green, with a slight unnatural yellow twinge - just like hers. His skin, one midtone, once dark compared to any member of her family, was bleached white, just as light as hers. His hair was the blonde of the family instead of black as it was when he was wholly himself.  
He had been transformed completely, mutated into her perfect son, wether he wanted to be or not. He couldn't speak, only take short, hitching breaths on sharp air. He wanted to scream again but his throat was too tight. Lusamine put the mirror away behind the bed and crossed over to his side.

"Well, Sun? What do you think?" Her expression was proud, all smiles. She wanted him to be ecstatic, pleased with his new body, and he was afraid of what might happen if he expressed his disgust, his fear. Sun was still in shock even as she leaned over in front of him and took him by the shoulders gently. Her hair fell over his bed in a golden curtain. "Sun?" Sun closed his gaping mouth, taking a few deep breaths, thinking about his now green eyes. He met Lusamine's eyes and saw they were still perversely kind, caring.

He made sure that he couldn't think about Lillie and Gladion, Hau, his mom, his past - stuffed the memories down, down, away, and spoke.

"Mother..."

Lusamine's smile was hideous to behold, base, insidious, and radiating the smug aura of a woman who finally had what she wanted. "No. You're not done. Not yet, my darling Sun. But soon, soon you'll be all mine."

Sun leaned toward her hand as it caressed his face rather than away from it. A small part of himself remained, that told him, you have to do this to be safe - it's okay to pretend. He lowered his head in shame when Lusamine took her hand away.

"Just a little more to go now, Sun. It'll hurt, it'll definitely hurt, but you're past the hard part."

"What- what's left?"

Lusamine looked down on him with the tiniest of smirks and replied. "It's a secret."


	2. no easy way about it

The last step - the process of changing Sun mentally - was absolutely the most vicious and immoral. It was good, then, that there were some people more than willing to help out with it.

Faba may have carried the title of Branch Manager like it was his firstborn son, but Lusamine could have cared less about that nonsense. Faba was the lead on the Type: Full project, and had since been Lusamine's resident mad scientist. He'd only earned the promotion for never once questioning her, and showing some decent ability when he put his mind to problems, the kind of ability she could use for covert projects as malicious as the Type: Full program and the upcoming transformation Sun would experience.

Faba's authority would lead the project along with other contacts; people she had no desire to communicate with but sometimes had to for the greater good, such as Xerosic in Kalos. Team Flare's admin scientist had pioneered a form of mind control, spoken of in rumour and misinformation. The President left it up to Faba to learn the finer points.  
So of course when the Branch Manager told her he'd come up with his own method of forcibly changing Sun's mind she had serious reservations.

"Miss President," he'd wheezed in that despicable, pathetic, nasal whine, "while I respect Team Flare's... contribution to this particular field, their technology is prone to malfunction in the application process. I have devised-"

"-No."

Faba's sly expression slipped off his face. "Miss President-"

"-Your contraptions are historically cumbersome, unnecessarily painful for the subject and prone to," Lusamine lowered her voice threateningly, "failure. This cannot fail. He will be mine." She had desperately wanted to love the faulty Type: Full specimens, wanted to love them like she did any other Pokémon, but it was Faba's incorrect and poor designs that led to the specimens being crippled and requiring containment masks. That could not happen here with Sun.

"Please," Faba croaked, "be reasonable. My process will involve complete memory erasure - a very precise operation, but one I am more than capable of performing. It will mean there will be no chance of him recovering any of his memories, and you will be able to have total dominion over him." He waved a hand theatrically as he did so often when making a point.

"No. I will go with what we know, not what you come up with based off of that." Lusamine dismissed him with a shake of the head.

"Miss President, humour me. Let me talk you through it."

Lusamine sighed. It may be worth at least hearing what he had to say. "Fine," she sighed, scowling. She crossed her legs in her seat. They were discussing Sun's future in her office, at the back of the mansion on the Paradise.

Faba wrung his hands, gleeful again. "I wanted to attempt something - show him his friends, his home - assuming your research into his past is correct - and then find the activity in the brain and scour all the neural connections that fire. Complete memory erasure."

Lusamine glared through half-lidded eyes. "That sounds more than a little risky."

"There is inherent risk. But Team Flare's procedures turn your... your..." Faba was loath to say 'son'. Lusamine's obsession with the outcome, which she'd constantly repeated since Sun's capture, disturbed the Branch Manager, but it allowed him to make these kind of scientific developments. "Your _experiment,_ into little more than a soulless robot." Faba was telling the truth. Team Flare's technology was very archaic to deliver on what Lusamine wanted.

"And yours will differ how?"

"Sun will still be himself. He will still have his quirks and will still remember certain things. By combining my method with Team Flare's I can go further and plant false memories in his head. He will be genuinely convinced he is your own flesh and blood." Faba had rehearsed that, Lusamine could tell. The gestures, the speedy delivery, the lack of pauses to wheeze or smirk with yellowing teeth.

She thought, lifting a pen off of her desk and fiddling with it nervously. Faba remained silent. "He has to be _perfect_." Faba shivered. Wether it was in disgust or simply a brief twitch, Lusamine didn't much approve. "You don't question my intentions, and I won't question your methods," she reminded him.

"Of course."

"I want a proof of concept. Do not perform the procedure. I want to see diagrams, analysis, whatever. Convince me it's safe." She said it without looking at him, focusing on the Aether logo on her pen. It slid out of focus and she saw double. Two Aether logos. One was her... one would be Sun. Her eyes focused again and the two became one.  
Faba's excitement was palpable. "Thank you, miss President," he croaked and dashed from the room in an awkward shuffle.

The President looked back down at her paperwork and dismissed it. She couldn't focus on anything. "Sun..." she mumbled to herself.

She left her desk and her office, heading to the room where Sun was sleeping. They'd kept him in an induced coma after he'd been brought inside to maintain his weak mental state. Keeping him awake would let him think and come to terms with himself, but they had to keep the fear fresh and strong. To Lusamine, any further pain inflicted on him would hurt her too now that he looked as beautiful as her. She understood that his mind needed to be perfect too, and would allow him to suffer to reach that end. Once he was hers in body and soul, she'd have something as perfect as herself to love and lavish with generous attention.

She sat down by the bedside, took his hand, and sat in silence. Sun clung to her tightly in his sleep. Lusamine stared at him. How Lillie and Gladion would learn when she had them back. What an example of perfection he'd set for them both. He would be their superior in every way imaginable. His white fingers locked over hers.

"Sun? Can you hear me?"

No response.

"We might be trying something different."

No response.

"I won't let them hurt you."

Sun's hand twitched.

"Promise."

* * *

When she received the documents Faba had prepared she was admittedly impressed. Over forty pages of comprehensive information on the procedure in a little under eight hours. He'd even included sketched diagrams. Cute. That was an insult to her intelligence to be sure.

She was not entirely convinced, but what Faba had put forward was feasible. The Branch Manager's notes were a little... deranged, but so was the task at hand. And as she had predicted, it would hurt Sun. A lot. She knew the ends justified the means. Sun would need to be awake, too. It was time to make a decision on the extent of Sun's mental conversion. Faba was right. His method would provide the perfect son Lusamine wanted. Team Flare's method would cause him less suffering. It would be easy to make Sun forget either procedure.

How it weighed on the president's conscience was the issue. Sun, before his physical transformation, could have suffered all the pain in the world and she wouldn't have blinked. Now however... her narcissism kept her from wanting to shed his blood now that he wore her skin and her eyes peered from his sockets.

She thought for an hour. And another. And another.

* * *

"While your... macabre method-"

"We're using my method."

"Don't test me, Faba."

"We're using my method."

"...Yes."

"You've made the right choice, miss President," Faba cackled. "Now, if you'll give me time to make a prototype-"

"A prototype?"

"Miss President, we are talking about a device that must target individual synapses in the brain and then destroy them." Faba shook his head as if disappointed in her lack of understanding. "I thought you wanted this to be done right."

"How long will it be, Faba?" Lusamine hissed.

"Weeks."

"You can have one week. I have already waited too long." Lusamine's temper was quickly flaring up.

"You can do this fast, or you can do it right, miss President," Faba said, pronouncing her title with contempt.

Lusamine had to pause. He was right. That just made her angrier. "Go. Get out of my sight and get to work on it. I don't want you to keep me posted, just tell me when it's done."

"Oh, certainly, miss-"

"Go."

"Oh, certainly, miss President," Faba repeated.

Lusamine snapped and grabbed the closest thing to her - a hardback book on the study of Ultra Space - and tossed it as hard as possible at Faba's head.

He gave the most ridiculous shriek and ducked the rudimentary projectile. His overlarge, buglike glasses fell off his nose and onto the floor. He chuckled nervously as he reached down to retrieve them.

Lusamine was already standing over him, and she jabbed her heel straight down through one of the lenses, hands on her hips. "Go."

"You - you -"

"So materialistic," Lusamine dismissed him with a smirk.

"If you insult me like that again, Sun may suffer an accident in the operation," Faba threatened. Lusamine's triumphant expression vanished. Her heel went through the other lens. Faba was standing again. He seemed to realise his enormous mistake in making the threat. "Um- I apologise-"

Lusamine backhanded him so fast he couldn't even see it. He screeched as he collapsed to the ground, where Lusamine grabbed the scruff of his lab coat and pulled him back up, pushing him into the sheer white wall. "My dear Faba. Just because Gladion and Lillie haven't been around doesn't mean I've forgotten how to play rough."

Faba choked in her grasp. Lusamine raised one leg carefully, took aim and plunged her heel straight into his ankle. Faba howled in pain, so Lusamine couldn't determine whether or not there had been a snap.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it-" he bumbled.

"Walk out on it. Now." She let him go and he fell to his knees. "I'm waiting, Faba."

He whimpered and picked himself up, hobbling out of her office. Lusamine glared after him. "Insect," she hissed under her breath. "Disgusting." Tossing the broken glasses away she wanted to see Sun again. She was already worried for his safety. Carefully replacing the book on her desk, she decided to wake him up - maybe try to talk to him. He was half broken anyway.


	3. broken mirror

Sun choked on the breath of life.

He coughed and heaved, quickly shaking off the grip of oblivion. It had taken a lot to wake him up, and he'd need to go back to sleep. He knew where he was, had no illusions about his location this time. His now green eyes stared straight ahead blankly at an equally blank white wall with a single window that displayed nothing. Wherever he was on the Paradise - maybe in some tucked away medical ward, maybe in the mansion - the minimalist style and colours still infected the place, made it impersonal, clinical.

Again, he tried to escape. Still strapped down. No chance. Not that he'd know what to do if he did escape. What would Lillie and Gladion do if they saw him now? Their clone in all but shape?

First to do was to become accustomed to his new body. He was still him, but he wasn't himself. Once he'd come to terms with that, he'd have a chance again. Thinking back, he'd almost broken whenever it was Lusamine showed him his new face.

He had to be more resilient.

All these thoughts were conceived and processed in the time it took him to look right and see Lusamine by his side again. His helpless feeling returned, and all previous building strength vanished from his body.

"Sun," she cooed.

Sun didn't respond. Justifiably feeling rather sorry for himself, tears began to shine in his eyes. Resisting the act of crying, he blinked and cleared his throat, gritting his teeth. "Why me?" he said finally.

"Because, Sun, you're important," she whispered. "You're special." He could feel that she wanted to touch him but was restraining herself, only barely. It made his stomach churn knowing that she was likely milliseconds away from putting her hands all over him at any time, and he swallowed a lump in his throat that formed upon thinking that maybe she already had while he was unconscious.

"I don't understand." His voice shook with repressed emotions, fear at the fore. "Why am I-"

"My children. They both gravitated toward you, and they are very," she paused, resisting the urge to fly off the handle. "...difficult to please."

"Just because I- because I know Lilli-"

"Don't-" Lusamine interrupted, "don't - mention her name. I know what my children are called, thank you very much."

Sun lay back further and shut his eyes. "Sure." He couldn't help but be a little sarcastic. He had to find some way to push back against her and refuse her advances.  
"You kids all have the same attitude," Lusamine murmured with amusement. "Not to worry, Sun. You'll be perfect soon."

"What are you going to do to me?" Sun asked. His voice was bored, hiding all his concern, all his terror. Whatever the answer was, he didn't want to hear it. "What's the plan?"

Lusamine observed him with confusion. "Isn't it obvious? Look at you," she smiled. "Why don't I-" she began with an almost teasing tone that made it sound like she was giving him the best present he could ever ask for, leaning out of sight briefly, "- show you again?" She had the same mirror that had revealed his new face to him for the first time.

"No," Sun panicked. He felt his grip on sanity slip at the threat of being shown what he was again. "No. No, no, don't," he pleaded, trying to get up with no results. "NO, NO-"  
"Sun, shh, shh-" Lusamine reached out to him, putting the reflective surface of the mirror face down over his torso. "Calm down, my sweet child, calm down." Taking his shoulders Lusamine pushed him back down into the bed. "Think about it, Sun. You. Are. Perfect. Now." The last four words were a thinly concealed threat.

"I never asked for this," he growled. "I never wanted this."

Lusamine broke eye contact and leaned away, perturbed by Sun's resistance. Hiding her scowl, not that he was even looking for it, she took the mirror off of his bedsheets and looked into it herself. Perfection gazed back. Why couldn't he appreciate that?

Everything was buzzing suddenly, synthetic noise in her head. Anger blazed through her veins. "You never wanted-" she threw the mirror at the wall, where the surface shattered. "-THIS?!" Lusamine gestured to herself. "You never wanted perfection? You never wanted to be looked after and loved and-"

Sun was wide eyed and shrinking into his bed, leaning as far away from the psychotic woman as possible. The President of the Foundation was picking up the pieces of the mirror already. **"I GAVE YOU THIS!"** She held up the largest shard, allowing the others to fall through her fingers - one piece sliced through the palm of her hand. Unflinching, she marched to Sun and grasped the back of his neck, forcing him to stare into it. "LOOK!" She leaned in beside him so that the reflection displayed them both. "Look at us, Sun!"

Sun was shellshocked. "Stop- _stop it_ -" he tried to squirm free of her hold. Watching his own expressions change in exertion and fear only inspired more in him. "Let go- let me go!" He watched himself say the words, watched his green eyes widen, and inhaled to scream and scream-

Lusamine, still in a blind rage, reversed her grip on his throat and started choking him. Sun couldn't try to force her off of him. At first he wriggled and squirmed, then realised this was a chance to die without becoming corrupted. He lay still and let her choke him, hoping he would die before she saw sense.

She held up the shard as an impromptu weapon and went to thrust it down into his neck. Sun braced for the end.

Nothing happened. Lusamine was frozen in place. She looked horrified. The fragment fell to the floor with a chink. The pressure on Sun's throat vanished and the same hand that had been causing it now caressed his face, smearing it with blood from the cut in her hand. "No... I'm so sorry, Sun." The sounds of him coughing were lost on her ears.  
"I'm so, so sorry." Taking his head gently in her hands, she leaned him against her chest and stroked his hair, crouching beside the bed. "I- I shouldn't have woken you up. I'm sorry. It should only be a week or so, Sun, then this will all be over." The smell of her hair was inebriating to Sun, but he stayed focused on what he had to do to get away - and it'd be helpful to know what would happen if he didn't, even if the information would be disturbing.

"You didn't answer my question," Sun managed to choke out. "What do you want with me?" He wasn't pulling away from her embrace, Lusamine noticed, and she smiled.

"I don't want anything with you. I want _you_." Her finger played at his lips. The phrase may have been unintentionally predatory - or maybe it was completely intentional. Sun wouldn't have known. "You'll understand when the time comes."

Sun gave in to her again. "I will," he muttered. "I will." For a moment his brain rapidly processed information. _'Mood swings and emotional outbursts followed by physical violence,_ ' his mind catalogued. He was nothing if not adaptive. It was Lusamine's 'method' so to speak. He needed to either avoid causing these outbursts or be ready for them. It was like learning from the Rotom Dex. There wasn't much time left to get away, and not many more mistakes he could make without slipping off of the metaphorical path and falling into the pit of insanity on his left or the maw of Lusamine's rage on his right.

"I'm sorry, Lusamine."

"Sun, you will call me _mother._ You've already done it once."

Sun knew better than to hesitate. "I'm sorry, mother. I - I appreciate the -" he forced himself to speak the words she wanted to hear. "I appreciate the gift of perfection I've been given."

The hug became tighter. "Thank you, Sun. I know you understand."

"Lus- Mother," he corrected himself, "Put me back to sleep until I can be perfect." His tone of voice was childish, dependent - an elaborate act. He hoped that in his obedience she'd want to wake him again. That she would do so, and he could ask to be allowed to move around - then maybe he could make a break for it. The only issue was if she did exactly as he requested.

"Oh, my sweet Sun, of course... I shouldn't have woke you." The hold on him weakened as she ran her hand through his hair yet again. "Here," she said and lay him back down tenderly. Sun's throat was still too tight, and he choked on his breath again. "Close your eyes, my dear."

Sun felt something indistinct. Then he was gone again, oblivion reaching out and dragging him below the surface. 

* * *

Lusamine had some ruminating to do.

She had tried to hurt Sun. He wasn't like Gladion or Lillie. He was different.

Coming to terms with the fact she hadn't changed at all thus far was difficult. "My- my perfect boy..." she cried. She was lying on the cold floor of her office, curled up in a ball, arms around her knees. No sooner had she retreated to the privacy of the office than she had dropped down and lay prone.

Many ideas had circulated since then. Bringing back Lillie and Gladion sooner rather than later was one such idea. Keeping them unaware Sun still lived, and exhausting her horrific habits on the two who had proven themselves unworthy of her love.

Another idea was asking if the technology Faba was working on could be used to solve her issues, but she didn't trust him for one instant with her brain. Faba would see her as a raving lunatic given the opportunity. She kept the option in her head. Perhaps she could perform the surgery herself somehow.

The last option she had was trying to master her urges herself. It hadn't worked so far.

She had to keep herself away from Sun. While his body may have been perfect, his mind was not, and he was still deluded from time to time. Flashes of herself nearly stabbing him and tearing his neck apart made her feel nauseous. The cut on her hand had gone ignored, and she was aware of a wide bloodstain spreading on her leggings where she was holding her knees.

 _'I have to distract myself,'_ she thought. She pushed herself back up, spreading blood on the tiles and setting about bandaging the cut in the mansion bathroom. The imperfection in her skin could be covered, but it'd take time to heal. Sun's physical imperfections had been similarly covered, or rather erased entirely. His mental imperfections would take time to be healed. She wound the fabric over her palm slowly and methodically, trying to focus entirely on the simple task.

"Fresh air," she muttered to herself, opening and closing her hand, feeling the bandage stretch and the wound breathe. "Fresh air."

She strode outside, trying to keep her head held high. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing. She switched to autopilot. Talk to employees. Smile. Pet the Pokémon. Wave. Look strong. She was only really self aware in small bursts. A conversation with employees about catch and release schedules. Greeting tourists in the atrium and in the generalist wing of the Pokémon conservation area, the only area open to visitors. On the upper floor, she looked out to her mansion. Where Sun rested, in one of the spare rooms, alone, waiting to see the world again with a new perspective.

 _'Put me back to sleep until I can be perfect.'_ He wanted it. He wasn't like Lillie or Gladion, he knew what was good and what was not. "Sun," she whispered. "Sun, Lillie, Gladion." Firmly closing her eyes, she continued. "Sun, Lillie, Gladion. Sun, Lillie, Gladion. Sun, Lillie, Gladion." The handrail she clung to was thankfully unrelenting. Her grip was like a vice. _"Sun, Lillie, Gladion."_ Both hands seized the white bar tightly, her knuckles turning just as white as the rail. "Sun. My perfect boy."

The other two she didn't care about. She had Guzma working on bringing them back, but that was only so they could see what Sun had become. Not for her to try and get through to them again. "I have what I want," she hissed as if rehearsing a line, imagining Gladion's rebellious expression, Lillie's lack of eye contact as she fiddled with her dress. "I have what I want, so I don't need you anymore. You can run off, you can go wherever, I don't care. Or you can stay. Try to make my perfect boy ugly again. It won't work."

She let go of the railing. "So do what you want. But you hurt my boy, and if you think I hurt you before, you won't have seen anything yet."


	4. nature of obsession

Alola was waking up. The sun was rising and the day was dawning.

"Gladion?"

On Melemele island, the siblings sat together. The orange light of a new day spilled into the roof of Pokémon professor Kukui's lab, where the two had rested.

Gladion didn't hear Lillie. He was watching the Luvdisc in Kukui's aquarium. They had no cares in the world. He carried no end of burdens on his shoulders. Gladion wasn't the type to wallow in self-pity. He was tireless.

"Gladion?" Lillie repeated. Gladion snapped out of his thoughts. He faced his sister.

"What is it?" His voice was quiet, gentle. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She looked tired. "How do you think Sun is?"

"Sun's dead, Lillie," Gladion scowled, but not at her. "Sun is dead, or worse."

"I don't think so," Lillie muttered. "I think he's okay." Lillie was optimistic, even if she was shy and aloof - to Gladion however she was open. They'd been through too much to be anything other than dependent on one another for support.

"You got some kind of psychic connection with him? No," Gladion dismissed. He regretted being so harsh a moment later. "Sorry." Lillie didn't say anything. Gladion put his arm around her. Their faces were illuminated by the bright morning sun. Nebby and Type: Null rested nearby, Null's pained breathing echoing through its iron mask. Gladion noticed Null had curled around Nebby as if to protect it, similar to how he felt he had to protect Lillie.

"Lillie, our mother will come after us. We need to get away from Alola, soon. The further the better. I know people from Team Skull who can help us. There's this Unovan guy," Gladion began, and realised he was going nowhere. He couldn't begin to fathom all the power Lusamine had in the region. Sun would've surely thought of a plan the moment they got away, and Gladion was still piecing together his.

"Gladion, we won't make it on our own. I'm no Trainer. And I don't want to rely on Kukui and Burnet for money." Lillie crossed her arms, hugging her knees to her chest.

"We won't need to. If I can just find a way to-" Gladion shook his head. "There has to be a way. There has to be a way." He thought back to Hau. They'd made it off the Paradise, sure, and the two siblings and Hau had split up. Hau had become a victim of Team Skull within a day. "We- we have to be careful."

Lillie was crying. Gladion opened his mouth to reassure her, then shut it and pulled her in for a hug. "I miss Sun," she wailed into his shoulder.

"I do too," Gladion said, and was telling the truth. He missed Sun. It was all his fault, he felt.

* * *

Several meetings had happened between Lusamine and Faba regarding Sun, but elsewhere on this particular morning the conversation took a new turn.  
Lusamine was trying to write a autobiography for the eighth time, every single time avoiding the topic of her childhood, teenage years and adult years. As such they never really worked out. After deciding to omit yet another passage of her younger years growing in Kalos and feeling the intense mental weight of inheriting her father's company, she gave up.

Casting a gaze around the room - the pure white, gold and black her definition of perfection - she felt unfulfilled. Sun would fill the emptiness in her soul, she was sure. She imagined the two of them observing Pokémon together, talking about Pokémon, talking in general, being able to pour all her worries into him, hugging him, telling him he was perfect... and more. While she'd never admit it, she was smitten by him in a way that she wasn't with her own children.

She had to resist going to visit him all the time. Whenever she did she always wanted to wake him, and the last time she had it almost led to disaster. She requested a progress report from Faba to try and stop herself from being drawn to Sun, her hands dancing over her datapad as she speed-typed the memo.

Sun was just as much of an addiction to her as the Ultra Beasts. She wrote his name on the paper she had been drafting her autobiography on and looked at the letters.

 _'As the president of the Foundation and one of the most powerful women in the world, I have often been told...'_

 _Sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun  
_  
She couldn't read the word anymore. She continued writing as if gripped in a frenzy, her handwriting getting steadily worse. She was growing increasingly hot, her hold on the pen slipping, the nib smacking on the desk as she brought it down again and again, harder and harder. The paper tore as she dragged the pen roughly.

 _Sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun son son son son son son son son son -  
_  
She was unaware she had changed the spelling. She wasn't even seeing what she was writing. Her teeth were gritted and her eyes stung, the plastic casing of the pen cracking in her hand. Still she wrote. The page was covered. Her face twitched with displeasure.

She flipped the sheet over, not to be so easily deterred. "Sun," she repeated over and over. "Sun, Sun Sun..." she became aware of a faint arousal which grew in intensity the instant she felt it. "Sun. Sun. Sun." The pen finally broke in two. Ink spilled on the paper and blotted out some of the words. "Sun," she continued, dipping her finger into the spreading puddle of ink and dragging it across the desk's surface.

She shook uncontrollably. "I- I need you," she whispered, touching herself under the desk as she wrote his name in huge letters. "I-" she bit her lip, leaning onto the surface, trying to control herself again. "Sun, I need you." She needed him to understand, he would when he saw it from her point of view - he'd _understand,_ damn it, he'd know that she meant well, that she just wanted- wanted-

A knock came at the door. Lusamine had completely forgotten she'd asked for a report from Faba. She looked at the mess on her desk and implemented the most simple solution possible. She dragged her arm across the whole desktop and spread papers, books and trinkets all over it to cover the inscription she had made.

She then buried her head in her hands to look frustrated and summoned an agitated voice to speak with. "Come in," she invited.

The door was thrust open with enthusiasm. So the news must be good. When Faba was irritated he hung around like a bad smell. When he was enthused he hung around like a bad smell with a bit more energy.

"I've thought of a way to go even further with the false memories," Faba tripped over his words with excitement, barely getting out the sentence. "It's a little... strange, but you'll appreciate its effects to no end, I believe."

"What is it?" Lusamine was still feigning irritation, her hand still between her legs, Sun still on her mind.

"Ooh, it is nefarious, miss President, nefarious indeed." Faba stopped himself from becoming too excited. "Before I explain, I'd like to make it clear. I will develop the theory to perfection. You will have to see to the practical application."

"Explain yourself," Lusamine insisted.

"It is my understanding-" Faba bent over suddenly, wheezing for a moment, "- that you want little Sun there to be... enraptured by you. Captivated." A long pause. The sentence begged to be continued, and Lusamine raised one eyebrow delicately. "Infatuated."

The President only nodded. She pretended to be very interested in her fingernails but all of her attention was on Faba's words. It was as if he knew what she had just been doing.

"My method involves stimulating the brain and then targeting and causing enough pain to the areas that light up during those stimulations to kill the connection. Once that is done, he'll have no memory of anything you've done or anyone else he may have interacted with, including your children." The difference between rehearsed Faba and improvising Faba was once again clear.

"Now, assume that we've burned away all reference to you. We then... _stimulate_ him instead of hurt him while exposing him to various media of you, interviews, photos, whatever. He'll create new connections. Associate the experience of feeling pleasure with you."

Lusamine understood the implications that Faba was dodging. Preventing herself from smiling at the image was difficult. Her mouth was suddenly dry as Haina Desert. Licking her lips, she leaned forward in her seat. "I understand. But drugs should be enough to make him... _stimulated,_ yes?"

"Yes, yes. It'll be up to you however exactly how far to go with what you expose him to." The President understood the meaning of that too. "The memory of the procedure itself will be removed, so he won't have a clue why he'll be so attracted to you. He'll just think of it as normal."

The two shared an unspoken moment of self consciousness. They were planning to program a sixteen year old boy into being physically attracted to someone he would consider his mother to ensure his total dedication. Both of them ignored such irrelevant moral quandaries and pressed on.

"So, is that a yes for that too?" Faba inquired.

"I see no issue." Lusamine actually saw plenty of issues, but no boundaries she hadn't crossed or played with before. Well, a few. Not many though. "How far would you recommend going?"

"Keep it... clean," was Faba's response, and his voice was subtly warning. "Going too far with this might have," he looked for the right word, "cumbersome results."

"Naturally. Anything else of importance?" Maybe she'd push it. She wanted him to love her. He had to love her.

"The prototype of my device is nearly complete. I shall have it to you within the fortnight."

"Within the-" Lusamine stopped herself. "As long as it takes. As long as it takes."

"That's the right attitude, miss President," Faba said sagely. "I'll get right back to it."

"That's very good to hear, Faba." The door closed behind the scientist's retreating back. Lusamine pushed all of the mess straight off her desk and read the three letters again. Her burning desire returned, and only speaking to him would satisfy it. She'd be fast. She wouldn't put him in danger. Her resolve was weak, but- she needed him.

* * *

"Sun, my perfect little angel," Lusamine sung quietly, "I had to wake you up. I have great news."

Sun's gamble had paid off. He immediately remembered his plan, and went to sit up, feigning pain as he moved, collapsing back. "Aah-" he moaned plaintively, drawing attention to the act.

"Is something wrong?" Sun hated just how concerned she really sounded. It was as if her feelings were genuine. He noticed it was pitch black outside through the single window. It wasn't any good to measure how long he'd been out for, but it was good to at least know it was night. A good time to escape.

"Mother-" Sun groaned, and writhed as if trying to shake off an imaginary pain. "My- ow-" he shivered. "Please-"

"What is it, Sun?" Lusamine asked. She was panicking, he could tell. "Sun, tell me what's wrong, now," she encouraged, trying to keep her voice even and failing. "Sun?!"  
Sun writhed on the bed. "Can I get up? Sit up properly? I think I just need to-"

Lusamine had already unfastened one of his arms. She took off the one around his waist while Sun thanked her. Once his arms and waist were free he sat up properly, stretching. His back cracked rather convincingly as he did so. He gave a sigh and lay back down, an idea crossing his mind as he did so.

"Thank you, mother," Sun said, reaching out to her with both arms. If he could just make her drop her guard... Lusamine looked overjoyed at his response and cuddled him tightly, breaking into a huge smile. As they broke apart, he cupped her cheek in his hand, reaching over the bed and staring with a hopefully quite inoffensive expression into her venomous eyes with his own exact replicas.

"Mother," he said as if the word was a revelation all by itself. Sun had done it in such a short time - Lusamine's awareness was clearly lessened, visible in her frozen stance, her confused face, the way she still held one loose strap before it slid from her fingers, now forgotten. She took his wrist in her fingers and held his hand against her heart, exhaling deeply. He could feel her heartbeat. It was strange to know that she was a human with a heart in her chest and warm blood flowing in her body. She hadn't shown any regret, any actual consideration for how he felt. It felt more like she was a figment of his imagination, some deep, terrible nightmare - she couldn't be real, could she?

"Sun." She came closer. "I - you're so perfect..." The smell of her hair, the gleam of her eyes as they traveled over him, and the shadows she cast onto him told her she was very real, he was her prisoner, her doll to play with as much as she wanted, to manipulate and speak to and hug and touch. And he didn't want to be. He couldn't imagine any longer like this. He had to get away now while he was loose.

Sun knew what to say. He had to ignore what he personally wanted to say - _'Let me go, stop torturing me, I want to go home,'_ all came to mind - and just speak the words she desired to hear. "Just like you, mother."

Lusamine blinked. She'd never actually been called perfect. She had an idea of what perfection was that she adhered to rigidly. Sun saying that meant... meant she was right. They were perfect. "S- Sun... do you- want anything else?" She felt like she had to do something for him, had to reward him somehow.

"I am a little thirsty." Sun hesitated to make it a little more believable. "But I want to stay right here. With you."

Lusamine smiled at his change in tone. "I'll see to it, Sun," she said. "I'll only be a minute. I promise."

"Please be quick," he called after her in a weak, pitiable voice. Sun was impressed at his own acting skills. The moment she was gone, he sat up properly and reached down to free his legs. "Come on, this is it."

As he got to work on the second strap - a little more fiddly than the first - he saw a piece of the mirror Lusamine broke. The shards were all still there, meaning nobody else knew he was here. Nobody else had come in to clean it up in the time since she last visited. Maybe it hadn't been that long. Who knew?

His reflection watched him from the chunk of glass. He was distracted. If he left now, he'd have to live the rest of his life like this. He had rich, dark skin once. Now he was white as Lillie, and he never thought it was even possible for someone to be that light skinned. He had his race stripped away from him as easily as anything else had been.

"What even _am_ I now?" Sun wouldn't be able to just walk out and go back home. This new form of his was a cage that he wore. Inescapable because he _was_ the prison. Nobody would recognise him. Nobody'd believe how it happened. He'd be alone, an outcast, even if not to the public. To himself, he'd be wrong. He was mutated beyond recognition, transformed, been infected by the Aether family's appearance.

And what would Lillie think if they met again? The thought had plagued the back of his mind every waking moment since he saw what he was. His will to do anything to escape was crushed.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just stay-

 **No.  
**  
His resolve returned.

He got back to work on the strap, his eyes still flitting to his reflection absently. Finally loosening it, he pushed himself up off the bed and without a second thought pulled out the IV drip he'd only just noticed in his wrist. The act of taking it out made him wince as the point of entry began to bleed.

He took up the piece of the mirror that had made him question his resolve and hid it in his hand to use as a weapon. Getting closer to the window to determine his location, all he could see was Alola's ocean. That didn't help.

Sun had to determine a quick, rudimentary plan. Not everyone on the Paradise was in on the project, surely. If he could find some sympathetic worker maybe he could get back to Akala Island and check the hotel he knew Gladion frequented. And if he was captured again he could kill himself with the makeshift blade.

A simple plan was good.

He turned to leave and his heart dropped. Lusamine was back. He'd wasted too much time on thinking, on planning and not doing. Was there a seed of doubt still in him?  
"Sun?" she asked, as if she wasn't sure what to do, holding a glass of water delicately. "What are you doing?"

"I- I thought I had to - stretch my legs," he came up with quickly. There was nothing more he could do than throw out the excuse and hope she believed it.

She approached him slowly, with an inquisitive expression. Setting the glass down carefully on the bed, she brushed her hair to one side awkwardly. Sun sensed some nervousness from her, but it didn't make him any more confident as her heels clicked closer and closer, the emerald on her chest glinting.

"You could've left. But you didn't. You're loyal, obedient, beautiful." Lusamine's face was very, very close to his. "Sun..."

One arm snaked over his waist and under his shirt while she leaned ever closer. Sun didn't shy away. He had to put up with this, the implications Lillie had made about her family life were now revealed to be all too true. Her lips were warm against his, and they wasted no time in opening, Lusamine sliding her tongue insidiously into his mouth. Sun felt it roll around, his own tongue tingling. Trapped there, he could only obey her desires.

He didn't return any sort of affection, merely allowing her to fulfil all of her wants. She was overwhelming, pushing against him with a deep and almost desperate passion, a lack of regard for his idea of the situation. He found it increasingly difficult to not shove her back.

He remembered the weapon in his hand. He didn't want to kill her if he didn't have to, but now was the best possible time to do it. And if he did, he'd be free. He turned it in his fingers, finding the sharpest edge as Lusamine sat him back down on the bed.

He made a fist with the jagged edge protruding, careful not to hurt himself on it. As he prepared himself, she let go. "Sun," she said, as if begging for more. "I can tell... I can tell that once you're done... you'll be more perfect than I could even hope."

Sun didn't move. He just couldn't kill her, he wasn't a murderer. "Do I need to have much more done?" Maybe he could escape from being completely changed by her sciences.

Lusamine thought. "We just have to make sure. Here," she said and handed the glass of water to him. Sun realised he had gone to take it with the hand holding the shard. Trying to take it surreptitiously failed. "What's that in your-" She took his hand and pried his fingers open furiously, stealing back the drink.

The chunk of glass fell between them.

"Oh." Lusamine said. "Oh. Sun, you didn't want to-"

"No, no- of course-"

She wasn't listening. "You wanted to look at yourself again," she smiled, her voice slightly sad. "Sun, you're so adorable."

She'd given him his own cover, which was useful. He nodded, avoiding her gaze sheepishly. _'I should've been an actor,_ ' he thought. She handed back the water, picking up the mirror.

"You've come around so fast. My perfect boy." Sun wasn't hers. He belonged to himself. He was not going to become her slave, he wasn't- he was going to see Lillie and Gladion again - Sun prevented himself from vocalizing those thoughts by drinking the water. If he was converted any time soon, what a last supper this would be. If it was to happen, hopefully it wouldn't leave any of him intact. He'd rather not be trapped in a body that truly did bend to Lusamine's every whim.

"Thank you, mother," he said. "When am I going to be perfect?"

"Soon, my sweet child, soon. Hopefully only a few weeks. I'm sorry, my dear, I said I wouldn't wake you."

"It's okay, mother. I like talking to you," Sun lied.

"Thank you, Sun." The little comment, _'I like talking to you,'_ kindled a fire in her that helped stave off some of the hunger. She needed more of that. She needed him to be the support she wanted. A son, a good son, not like Gladion who resisted and was obtuse. She needed to feel all this again, both the power and the humility that came with this relationship.

"You said," Sun questioned, "that you had good news?"

"Oh, yes. We've found a way to make sure that you really believe you're my son. You'll love me, and I'll show you all the love I can give in return. And I promise, Sun, I promise I'll never hurt you."

Sun wished he hadn't asked. There was no way to avoid being strapped down again. He just let it happen, defeat settling on him like dust. Next time he'd have to run instantly, no hesitation, no getting sentimental over his appearance. He could deal with it. He could do it. The next opportunity he had would be the one he needed.

Once he was firmly restrained, and heavily sedated, he found Lusamine's face close to his again, her expression tender. "Mine. All mine. Every part of you, Sun. Every..." her eyes wandered over him and he felt nauseated, "every part of you. Sleep well, Sun."


	5. Aether Sun

Lillie and Gladion had been taking refuge in the Professor's lab since escaping the Paradise and while Gladion was most certainly thankful for the hospitality he was eager to move on.

He'd been insisting they leave Alola for a while and even though Lillie hadn't disagreed she avoided the subject. Kukui had a boat, but it wouldn't get them to mainland Unova, and even though Gladion went on about having plenty of contacts he didn't ever do anything with them.

"We've been going in circles," Gladion said, scratching Type: Null's neck one hot evening. He wouldn't let Null do it itself because there was a chance it'd lacerate itself with its talons. "Lillie, I'm gonna- I'll work something out, I promise. We'll make it out of here. We'll spread the message. We have to take our mother down." Lillie didn't reply. She was cuddling Nebby close to her chest, and the Cosmog made small noises as it playfully tried to break free. Type: Null watched with a little interest. It made a moaning sound, choked by the internals of its mask. Nebby glanced at it and calmed down. "Lillie? You know that we have to do this, right?"

"I know, Gladion. I know we do." Nebby escaped her arms suddenly and rushed toward Type: Null, the two gaseous, limb-like protrusions from Nebby's core of wispy purple light placed excitedly on Type: Null's helmet. It huffed as if sneezing and shook Nebby off, pawing at it, eyeing the Cosmog curiously.

"Calm down, Null," Gladion commanded, and the chimera lay back down with a pained hiss.

"Nebby?" Lillie called after it, and the little Pokémon zipped back to her, waving to Type: Null before leaving its side. Null raised a talon in acknowledgement. "What about Sun's Pokémon?"

Gladion sighed irritably. "Why do you want to talk about Sun so much?!" He didn't want to be reminded of Sun's death constantly.

Lillie bowed her head, hiding her face from her brother. "I'm worried about him."

"Then believe he's dead and stop worrying. We need to keep - keep clear heads," Gladion said, covering his own expression with his hand dramatically. "I don't _want_ him to be dead - Arceus, I wish that I could think he's alive - but I believe he's dead."

"Gladion, don't," Lillie choked, and he realised his sister was crying. "Don't - I-"

"I'm sorry, Lillie," Gladion apologised quickly. "But-" he stopped himself. "I'm sorry."

"Hey? Kids?" It was Kukui's voice.

"Yeah?" Gladion called back down. "What is it?"

Kukui's voice was less enthusiastic than Lillie was used to. It was another reminder of the grim reality they had fallen into after Gladion, Sun and Hau's attempt to rescue her and Nebby.

"We're eating in a minute if you two want to come down."

"Okay, thanks," Lillie interrupted Gladion's response, knowing he'd just want to be a recluse. "Come on, Gladion," she said and took her brother's hand. "Let's eat with them tonight."

The siblings climbed down from the lab's loft - Gladion reluctantly. Type: Null leapt down after them, landing on its front legs and scratching the laminate flooring. Burnet winced. Nebby floated after the synthetic creature.

Kukui cast a gaze at the masked quadruped and then looked at Gladion.

"You want to give it another go, Gladion?"

Gladion hesitated. He glanced at Type: Null. "No." Kukui and Gladion had been trying to remove Null's restraining helmet occasionally since the siblings arrival. So far Null had resisted every individual attempt and had lashed out at the two several times. It was apologetic toward the two afterwards, nuzzling them affectionately, but Gladion had acquired quite a few more scars.

Sitting around the table, and with small talk in full flow, things felt somewhat normal. The TV was quiet, background noise. Then suddenly, something caught their attention.

 _"The President of the Aether Foundation has fallen ill after..."  
_

* * *

Faba had finished the device.

The machine was incredibly large. It was designed to go over a person's head like an iron mask. It reminded Lusamine of the restraints designed for what would become known as Type: Null. It was tall enough to comfortably fit the subject's whole head inside, and looking up into the top of the harness gave the President a lurch of sickness.

Perhaps a hundred horrifyingly long, dangerously sharp needles resided inside, to sink into the brain and cut out the imperfections. These were all attached to individual machine arms neatly slotted away in the roof of the mask.

"And you're sure your inspiration for this was not some horror movie that just so happened to catch your interest?" Lusamine asked, averting her eyes from the grim implements.

Faba's laugh became a hacking cough. "You've seen the plans. And this machine's purpose is scientific advancement, not torture... much like our goal."

"It looks like a butcher's tool." Lusamine spoke with contempt, contempt that would hide her concern. It looking so much like Type: Null's mask was an omen to her. Faba had failed once before. He had better not fail this time. Not when it already felt like Sun was becoming hers.

"I can assure you it is not."

"It had better not be." Lusamine had been a wreck for eleven days. After the slight hiccup in her mental state that was her scrawling Sun's name over everything within her reach, she had retired from the public eye feigning illness.

This had allowed her to scrawl Sun's name in peace. Sketchy, rushed drawings of him were plastered across her bedroom floor. She hadn't woken him up again since. Faba had gone in to check on him and noticed he was quite skeletal - then realised he'd been three days without the IV drip in his arm sustaining him.

Lusamine had been horrified to learn another few hours could have killed him, and vowed to never put him at risk again. For real this time. She satisfied herself by writing down words he had spoken, imagining his voice saying them, imagining his voice saying other things, things that made her quiver in excitement.

She and Faba had prepared the slideshow of images to be displayed across the duration of the procedure, making sure to consider every little loophole, every individual thing that Sun didn't need in his memory anymore. Every person of importance he could have met. In the digital age it wasn't too difficult to source everything.

They were both satisfied with the equipment and the method. Now was the time to put it into practice. Faba would take care of it all under the President's watchful and unforgiving gaze. She would not allow a single mistake to go unpunished.

They carefully fit the headset with the screen built into it over Sun's eyes and restrained him further. He couldn't be allowed to move at all. A single slip could be fatal, or worse.

Next came the precise work of cutting Sun's head open. That could be done while he was sleeping. Lusamine was so agitated by this step that Faba demanded she step outside. Reluctantly obeying, she pined for Sun from the next room over - another spare room for important guests. The two planned to use that as their control centre for the operation.

Once all was said and done, Sun lay with an heavy iron mask locked over his face and his mind completely exposed to the whims of the Aether Foundation. Lusamine gave the green light, and the work began.

* * *

Sun woke in pitch blackness.

His immediate hope was that he was dead.

A blinding light pierced his eyes, which he gradually became accustomed to. Wherever he was, it was stuffy and the air tasted of rust.

The light was a pure white screen. He must have some sort of headset on. That came with the realisation this was it - it was time.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than his head exploded with agony unlike any other. His scream echoed inside whatever was on his head, bouncing it back to his ears and putting him on the verge of sensory overload as the pain somehow intensified, further and further and further. He wasn't just strapped down anymore, they'd put a full straitjacket on him and rendered him entirely immobile. His head was jammed into some sort of harness to hold it completely still.

Individual points of fire made themselves known, but there were so many as to ignite his whole skull. A mechanical whirring registered from above as the screen turned green.

The pain stopped.

He breathed in and out. He was still himself.

An image of the Kanto region appeared on the screen. Home. Sun thought about the towns, the cities, the Pokémon, the people-

A whir from some spindly gear above. A clicking of macabre instruments together like claws. A swarm of locusts buzzing musically in sync. Closer and closer. The nail dug into his soft tissue, found the connection and severed it. Now the image of the region was alien. He didn't know what it was anymore. It was gone like dust in the wind.

The next image was of his house in the Hau'oli outskirts. Had he told them where he lived while they beat him? Was his mother safe? Was-

Like a razor on stone, a scratching of something too rough, bloody knuckles. Memory removed, redacted, rescinded. Steel maggots wriggled in his head, eating.

Sun had enough sense to know what was happening to him, even as the needles pored his brain for his thoughts about Iki Town. He had to stop himself from thinking about what was on screen. But bursts of memory came. They dissipated into nothing more than smoke, a fog that Sun's consciousness trailed through.

The feeling of the tall spikes sliding into his vulnerable brain was like the feeling of driving a knife through a wet sponge. Nothing could be done for him, no way existed for him to resist. Memory, needle, gone. The whirring of the machine gave the impression of a dental clinic, one that had gone off the deep end wholly.

Ilima. An accidental recollection of the Verdant Cavern trial. Incisions in his mind, peeling away layers of his brain and ripping out the memory.

The list went on and on. Covering what felt like every base. Every location on Melemele, Akala and Ula'ula island. Every significant person he had met, the trial captains, the professor, Team Skull, everyone. Red ants crawling into his head, chomping out thought, chittering among themselves.

And every time he tried to tell himself to think of something else, the machine's whirring or the sound of his heavy breathing in the mask distracted him from the thought. When Hau appeared - an image of him from a photo the Rotom Dex had snapped - Sun tried to think about the taste of the malasadas Hau adored so much. The machine grinded, interested. First the thought of the taste was consumed, then the memory of Hau. Then Hau himself was torn away.

The screen went black for a moment. The whirring stopped. It wasn't over though, was it? He still knew- still knew... Lillie... Gladion... and he was very much Sun, not what they wanted him to be. He was Sun. He lived in - his favourite colour was - his name was Sun. His mother's name was - his hometown was - his best friend was called - Sun was drowning. Sun was sinking into the deep void of his own head, being emptied.

Sun felt more self aware. Something was changing. Things felt tighter, and then his head split open with unbearable, unstoppable, inconceivable torture. The needles were deep in the jelly of his brain again, pumping as if raping any ideas of resistance he could be thinking of. The world shrunk to a pinpoint of blackness, where Sun was the only living thing and whatever else existed did so to rend him apart with hypodermic teeth and scalding irons. His flesh was flayed and his eyes burned in their sockets, his fingers snapped and his ribs collapsed into his organs, puncturing his lungs and bursting his heart. He was full of blood. Covered in it, swelling with it.

But his body was still whole.

Scenes of hyper violence, ultra violence, flashed on the screen, and he couldn't tell if they were truly there or if he was projecting his terrors into the black. The sound of quiet, wet squelches slipped into his ears as the contraption fucked his head. It blended with rhythmic clicking, like the sound of Lusamine walking in her heels. Sun was sick as the image of her entered his mind, thankful nothing was covering his mouth as the vomit spilled from the inside of the mask and onto the bed that he was assumedly still on. The needles paused, and went back to surgical precision.

Cut. Memories of Lusamine gone. No- memories of Lusamine being violent were gone. An image of Gladion quickly flashed up before Sun could comprehend his own mental state. A plunge of a precise sword into his skull and that was Gladion gone.

Then was Lillie. "No," he begged. It was impossible to stop. His whole life was already different from how he had remembered it moments ago. He'd forgotten so much in a minute, a minute that felt like an eternity, shoved in a oven and left to cook. An iron maiden closed on his mind, crushing it in a dark and agonising grasp.  
 _"Go, Nebby! Use...use Splash!" Oh- oh- Sun- I was just... just pretending to be you."_ Nebby swirled around, trails of gas spilling behind its little stubs of arms, flailing frantically. Sun and Lillie both laughed.

Hands dug into broken glass, into pins and nails. As the points sunk into flesh, the feeling of forgetting. Torn out. A drill into organs, the pain was so strong it was abstract now.

Sun was sick again. Hot, thick bile. He no longer had anything at all to remind him of who he was or why he was here. He dug deeper. Nothing. It was like he was stood on a pier in the face of an unstoppable wave of fire. His name was Sun. His - His - His - Sun. His name was Sun. Sun. Su- he couldn't hold on.

There was a second of blackout. A second in which Sun shut down to protect himself from further mental damage, for all of his remaining memories to form a coherent narrative to his life. In that second, that vital moment where he shuffled what he knew, Sun's old life ended. There was too much changed for him to be the same person.  
His breathing echoed through the metal shape, heavy and fast. It felt like he'd been hit on the head a moment ago. The feeling of tightness over his body relaxed. In fact... everything was relaxing now. The screen was dim. Sun was floating, lightheaded, smiling deliriously.

In actuality, not much had changed in that brief moment. Faba had seen the blackout on his readings and gone ahead with the second part of the procedure. Now a cocktail of powerful mind-altering drugs was being fed into Sun's bloodstream. Ketamine, MDMA and morphine were all present in the mixture in just-below dangerously high amounts. Faba knew when to cut it off.

Sun was basking in a feeling unlike anything he'd ever known. He was safe. He was happy. He was calm. He was also aroused. Words from some voice he didn't recognise resonated in his ears. Images were displaying on the headset, but they were blurred, unfocused.

It may have been minutes or an hour of this limitless pleasure. Sun's mouth hung open blankly and he revelled in the feeling of the moment.

Tiny bursts of words registered properly, but he couldn't make sense of their meanings. The voice was feminine, he decided after a good while of thought. Now it was like she was speaking to him. He saw an image properly - a tall, beautiful woman reaching out to him as if to take his hand. She said his name, reminding him of what it was. Or maybe she named him. Sun wanted to reply, to follow her into the light. The screen went dark, displaying the last image, a golden logo on a white background. The whispers continued even after the headset dimmed for the final time. Sun fell asleep with the voice serenading him.

* * *

Lusamine clapped her hands together with giddy excitement. She had been watching the readouts with a keen eye the whole time, and they had matched perfectly with the simulations Faba had predicted.

"Is he- is he-?"

Faba grumbled a little, words she couldn't make out. "Miss President, he'll need to be in an induced coma for another few days. The amount of mental damage he just suffered cannot be understated. But yes. He is yours." Faba span his chair around to face her, deactivating the apparatus. "Now that he's yours, you can clean him up while I fix his head. I wonder," Faba began again, sarcasm in his voice, "I wonder why there was a team involved in the Type: Full project, whereas only the two of us worked on this. How do you intend to explain this to the rest of the Foundation?"

Lusamine hadn't really considered that. She just wanted Sun. "I won't. They can believe what they want. Alola has no idea the boy is missing, Lillie is too afraid to put out the news and Gladion is too stubborn."

The computer and readouts around it powered down as Faba raised into a hunched stand. "If that's all you think it'll take, who am I to question it?"

"Who indeed, Faba?" Lusamine was already zoning in on Sun. They'd performed the procedure from the room adjacent so Lusamine couldn't hear his pain and so that Sun had no chance of associating one of them with the incident if he heard them discussing it as it happened.

They moved out of the dark, makeshift theatre and into the light where Sun was. Faba took the mask from Sun's head and looked up into the arrangement of needles. "Hm," he approved, seeing the thin film of fluids on the blades. "This is why I hate children," Faba hissed, scowling at the puddle of Sun's stomach fluid that had dripped down the mask and onto the bedsheets. "So messy."

"Be quiet," Lusamine demanded. "Fix him, take your machine and leave," she demanded.

"Oh, when I'm useful to you I'm indispensable," he growled. "But when I'm done it's the same damn insults. One of these days, President..."

Lusamine paused while carefully folding the sheets so the sick didn't spill. "Is that a threat?"

"No, of course not." Faba was insincere. There was silence for a short while as Faba closed up Sun's skull while Lusamine took the apparatus apart. When Faba was done he grabbed an armful of the equipment, loading it onto a nearby trolley he covered with a cloth. "I'll take all this away. The rest is for you," Faba spat, and quickly ducked out of the room. Lusamine ignored the petty kick. Sun was sleeping with a faint smile. It made her smile too. Lusamine's joy at seeing him so peaceful faded quickly as she remembered she had to clean up the mess he had made.

"Sun, the things I do for you."


	6. hash80c850

The time came for Sun to wake up.

Lusamine demanded to be the only one present and Faba against his better judgement had yielded to her authority.

The President of the Foundation disconnected him from all of the machines and apparatus exactly as she had been told to. Slowly and carefully. After a moment, Sun stirred.

He yawned and sat up straight, no longer tied down, no longer a prisoner, but also no longer himself. The moment he noticed Lusamine watching him he froze, recognising her somehow. He couldn't find the words.

"Sun?"

Sun breathed steadily, nervously glancing her over. For an instant Lusamine was worried something hadn't worked. "Sun, it's me." He didn't respond. "Sun. It's me," she repeated. "Your mother." Slowly at first, a smile crept over his face. It grew and grew until Sun looked completely ecstatic. "Let me look at you," Lusamine ordered and Sun held still, maintaining his big smile as she tipped his head from side to side, cupping his chin. She took in every little aspect of his face, his piercing emerald eyes, his hair the exact same shade as her own. His brilliant white skin. Lusamine was enamored with the final result. Sun. Her perfect little boy.

"Mother..." Sun breathed. He shifted to the side of the bed and put his arms around her. Lusamine returned the gesture.

"Sun." She held herself back from crying at how beautiful it all was, how she finally felt like she had something worth having.

It had been worth all the effort, all the blood, sweat and tears. Most of it was Sun's, but the point still stood. It was worth it for the gaze he was giving her. Absolute, unflinching, endless dedication.

"Come on, Sun. Let's make you perfect."

* * *

Lusamine had torn the pictures from the walls, eliminated the last remnants of her failure of a biological son's existence from the Paradise. While his name still hung around the Type: Full project, Gladion could be comfortably forgotten now, replaced with Sun.

It was Sun's bedroom now, and with that came a new outlook on the place - a fresh start with a fresh face. All the furniture was new - everything from Gladion's room had been piled into Lillie's instead. Nothing but the best for Sun.

His bed was just like hers - a black, four poster bed that extended to the ceiling with beige drapes. Everything else in the room was either black, white, or gold - the colours of a uniform beauty. A large mirror with a plain white frame hung in the corner of the room, and a large black wardrobe stood beside it. One wall was almost entirely covered by a window. The other three were plain white with a gold band in the centre.

"What do you think?" Lusamine asked.

"It looks great, mother!" Sun cried enthusiastically and went to jump onto his bed, Lusamine barely catching him by the waist before he landed on the surface.

"Hold on," she said, amused and pleased by his reaction. "You're still wearing this filthy getup."

They hadn't changed Sun's clothes since he arrived, and the T-shirt and capris he had arrived in were positively disgusting after so long. Lusamine had been able to ignore it until now, but she had to see what he looked like once he was fully changed.

"Oh," he said as if just noticing. "Sorry, mother - I was just so excited!"

Lusamine smiled and ruffled his hair. "Come on. Before you throw yourself around here we should probably get you washed off."

"Okay," he said and took her offered hand immediately, beaming at her. "How did I-" he stopped, confused, "How did I get so messy?" He was looking down at himself with shock.

"You were asleep for a long while. I'll explain later," Lusamine dismissed the question, and Sun accepted the response. They were travelling down the corridor adjacent to his room, and stopped at the next door over. "This is the bathroom, shower room, whatever," Lusamine said, suddenly thinking about how nervous she was about this situation.  
"Okay," Sun peeped and went in ahead of her, already taking off his shirt and tossing it to the floor.

"Sun- um-" Lusamine hesitated, watching him strip off. "Sun, are you alright to do this by yourself?" If she was to see him naked she wanted to save it for a special moment between the two of them.

"Yes, mother," Sun replied as he pulled down his capris. Lusamine shut the door quickly, finding herself a little aroused, but enough to handle. She had hardly calmed herself before his voice called from inside. "How do I switch it on?"

Lusamine made up her mind very fast. She opened the door again and marched to Sun's side. She avoided looking down at him. "Like this, you switch it off the same way," she said impatiently, still avoiding looking at him, knowing Sun's eyes were on her. "When you're done, put a towel on and come to your room and we'll get you dressed up properly."

She bolted back out of the room and leaned against the door. She had to keep him pure. She knew doing what she had done to Lillie and Gladion to him would be wrong. So she'd have to refrain from her habits. Now was a good time to learn, to teach herself again that she could improve for the sake of her beautiful and sweet third child. Returning to Sun's room, she drew the curtains and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She had what she wanted, she had to be careful to not ruin it. Lying there she knew she'd have to get Lillie and Gladion back at some point.

The President of the Foundation had already picked out clothes for Sun to wear like she had for Lillie and Gladion long ago. She knew Lillie still wore the same dress that resembled her beloved Ultra Beast so closely - but that obsession with the creature seemed far away, pointless now. Sun was her new love. Gladion had shed his own trappings a while ago. Two out of three wasn't bad.

Peering into the wardrobe she was satisfied with what she saw - ten of the same pristine white shirt, fading into a deep gold around the ends of the sleeves and at the base. It looked just like her favourite, trademark dress.

If Lillie was to resemble the mysterious Ultra Beast, Sun would resemble herself. This would be useful for two reasons - one, it'd display his complete obedience to her and his new lineage as her perfect son. Two (and it was directly linked to one), when Lillie and Gladion came back they could see the example she and Sun would set together, and maybe that would convince them to change their rebellious ways. There was a third reason too, one that Lusamine put off thinking about - Sun would inevitably replace her as President one day and when he did she wanted him to keep up the standards of perfection.

The trousers she'd picked for him were similarly all identical, and bore a resemblance to her own leggings, white and black, the colours split at the seams. If he was as obsessed with her as she was with him he'd love the look.

Lusamine waited patiently for Sun's return. She lay out his clothes on his bed, made sure they were neatly folded, and began to think of a story to explain his situation and why he couldn't remember any of his early life with her. He was essentially a newborn with life skills, a full vocabulary and unique quirks of his own she had yet to discover already learned. He knew things, but he didn't know what, who or where he truly was.

The easiest explanation, but in Lusamine's opinion the silliest, was to tell him he was made, not born. Made to be the perfect son - it wasn't far from the truth. The Foundation had made Type: Null, so if she showed him the remaining two specimens perhaps he'd believe he was a similar experiment. Or it would traumatize him. Probably traumatize him. The explanation that Lusamine was the most against was him merely having amnesia or some such issue. She wanted him to feel like he was perfect, and telling him he'd forgotten how he'd got there felt wrong. Maybe he'd been separated from her as a child and she'd finally found him. That could be a cover if he did somehow begin to remember - tell him the experiences were too traumatic for him to be allowed to recall them.

She didn't want to pick a bad option, but all of them felt wrong somehow. As she mulled them over, the door opened and Sun rushed in, his waist wrapped in a white towel as she'd requested. "Mother! I'm done!" He was so very endearing. She smiled as he ran to her side.

 _'Arceus...'_ she cursed internally, his gorgeous light skin gleaming, droplets of water clinging to it, shimmering in the soft golden glow from the ceiling. She had to- had to-

"Is that for me?" he asked, staring at the clothes lined up on the bed. He'd interrupted the dark impulses and desires. Lusamine was alone in her mind again. How had he quelled that conflict so fast? It had only just began to stir, she had only just started to have the thoughts of indulging in her carnal needs and tastes - but he'd put them to sleep, let them rest again. They'd be back, but nothing had defeated them so fast like his round eyes and inquisitive tone just had. He could control her. She'd done a good thing in taking him. She'd show him love. He'd return it, and keep her together.

"Yes, Sun. Why don't you try it on? One second," she said and drew the drapes around the bed so Sun could have privacy as he changed. She didn't have any time to reflect on his strange effect on her - in no time at all he emerged from behind the drapes a little awkwardly, grinning. Lusamine barely got a glance of how he looked before he was on the move again. Damn it, he was energetic.

"Let's look in the mirror!" He rushed over to it, Lusamine by his side. "Mother-" he said, breathless. "I look just like you!"

He was right. He did. Emotion on a scale Lusamine hadn't felt in a long time welled inside her, and she put her arm around him, leaning down to kiss his forehead. Sun blushed. He reached up and put his arms around her neck, and she lifted him up in her arms and span him round, laughing along with him. She tossed Sun down onto the bed playfully as he giggled uncontrollably.

"Mother," he managed in between gasps for breath as she tickled him. "Stop it!" Lusamine yielded to his request and lay beside him as he calmed down. She was laughing too, trying to cover it with her hand, trying to stifle her giggles of joy at finally having this, this- feeling of power, of total and complete control over him. After a moment Sun leaned over to her.

"Sun," she whispered.

"Mother." Sun came closer and kissed her on the cheek. He snuggled as close to her as possible. "I love you."

"I love you too. My perfect boy."

"We're perfect." Sun mumbled into her shoulder.

"You're right." Lusamine rolled onto her side, kicking off her heels and facing Sun, touching noses. He nuzzled her affectionately like a Pokémon, making her laugh. "You're so sweet."

Sun blushed again, and kissed her as if to make up for it. The two lay side by side in bliss.

* * *

It was twilight and Alola's sea was sparkling with stars. Lillie and Gladion were sitting on the coast by the Pokémon laboratory, Nebby and Type: Null sleeping indoors.

The waves called to the two of them, promising they'd be safe. All was calm. Lillie rested against Gladion's shoulder. "Do you have a plan yet?"

"No," Gladion admitted. "I don't."

"I've been lookin' **EVERYWHERE** for you two!" Gladion recognised the voice and whirled around.

The silhouette approaching could only be one person. The hunched posture, the broad figure, the wild haircut. Guzma. "What do you want?"

"I've come to take you two back to miss Prez," Guzma scowled. "And I know how you love to do things the hard way, Gladion. So I brought me some backup, some boys. And some girls. Some backup," he repeated, tossing a Poké Ball into the air and catching it as he came closer.

"Gladion," Lillie said in a panic as the leader of Team Skull and the grunts came ever closer. "Gladion, what are we going to do?"

Gladion scowled. He was not going back to the Paradise. He was not going to fall into his mother's shadow again, he was not going to hear the taunts, the constant reminders she would spit at him that Sun was dead and it was his fault for choosing to leave him. Gladion wasn't going back. He didn't care that Guzma was bigger than him. He didn't care about anything besides his freedom, his distance from Lusamine. He closed his trembling hands into fists. "Lillie, go." If he got beaten up, at least she'd make it away. One of them being free of their mother was better than neither.

"Gladion," she said. He could tell from her tone that she was going to warn him against going up against Guzma. He didn't want to hear it.

"Lillie-"

"Listen to ya sister, Gladion. Stop playing this dangerous game with the big boys and come quietly. And besides, from what I heard, miss Prez has a nice surprise for ya."

Guzma stopped in front of Gladion, smirking down at him with a furrowed brow. Even when triumphant the boss of Team Skull found a way to look enraged.

Gladion thought about Nebby and Null. If they came quietly, they could leave Nebby and Null with Kukui, and keep them away from Lusamine, sacrificing their future for the future of the world. If Lusamine didn't have Nebby, as much as she may terrorize Lillie and Gladion, she held no power over the rest of their reality. Suddenly Gladion lost his will to fight. Lusamine losing Nebby was far more important than his freedom.

"Fine," Gladion hissed. "Fine." Guzma crossed to his shoulder and smacked him on the back.

"That's the spirit, kid. C'mon then."


	7. WHAT IS MINE

Sun woke up and yawned loudly. He threw off the light duvet and sat up, leaning forward.

"Huh?!" Lusamine said beside him, startled into wakefulness by his sudden activity. "Oh- Sun."

In the night Sun had wandered down to his adoptive mother's room and asked to spend the night with her. It would be the first time, but not the last, that Lusamine would wonder if she went too far when programming his dedication. She had refrained all night from doing anything untoward with him, simply enjoying his company. It put her at ease, having something so similar so close.

"Good morning, mother," Sun smiled. He sidled over to nuzzle against her, but Lusamine wasn't in the mood for his affection so shortly after waking up. She felt Sun's nose against her bare shoulder, heard him take a deep breath of her scent and sigh in pleasure.

"Can't I lie in for another five minutes?" Lusamine snatched up part of the duvet and pulled it back over herself.

"Sure," Sun said, shifting away to give her some space and burying himself in the duvet, pulling up his side to mirror Lusamine. His head poked out of the covers, and he wrapped himself up in the sheets. "What are we doing today?" He tossed and turned side to side in the bed, trying to respect his mother's wishes for another five minutes. It was difficult to restrain himself from touching her and the want to be closer was a constant nagging, a feeling of loneliness even though he was so close to her.

"I don't know, Sun. Please calm down, it's very early."

"Okay," Sun said and fell quiet, rolling onto his back. "Sorry, mother."

"It's alright," Lusamine muttered, unable to stay irritated at her new son. She yawned. "Come here," she beckoned and put her arms around him. Sun nestled right back into her shoulder.

"Maybe I could do with five more minutes," he mumbled and Lusamine laughed. Sun giggled too.

They lay in silence for a while, Lusamine contemplating all the ways that she could teach Sun to be just like her. She would teach him everything about the Foundation, about herself, she'd be his in the same way he was hers if he could prove his loyalty and love to her. She felt a growing eroticism in her body, a flame kindling, guttering and then burning bright, her eyes glowing with that immoral fire. Her hands moved down his back and very slowly folded over the bottom of his plain white pajama top, ready to start touching his back, moving over his chest, shoulders and to his-

Lusamine's phone started buzzing on her bedside table, making the two of them jump. She scowled and reached to take her phone up in her hand, and upon seeing the caller details her expression darkened further. Swiping to answer, she put the phone to her ear.

"What is it?!" As she spoke Sun put his arms around the wrist holding the phone up, rubbing up and down on it like it was a scratching post while making a strange noise. Lusamine ignored him.

"Oh, hey, miss Prez. You sound good this morning." Guzma's voice was the deep, rough tone typical of gangsters and scum like the rest of his ragtag band, and despite the two of them being close partners Lusamine was almost never happy to hear it.

"What is it?!" Lusamine repeated. "Don't waste my time with courtesy calls!"

"So, I uh- I found ya kids. They were hanging out by that kid's- the, uh, Kantonian, you, uh, k-" Lusamine's blood ran cold and she shouted suddenly.

"STOP!" Sun flinched and let go, thinking she was addressing him. She closed her eyes. "Give me one moment. Sun, stay here," she said, taking the phone away from her mouth to speak to Sun, who nodded silently, still scared by how loud she'd been. She stood up and rushed to a corner of her room. "What?"

"They were hanging out by that one kid's house in Hau'oli. So I beat down that kid's mom just like you asked me," Guzma paused as if expecting praise, but Lusamine was far too engrossed in Sun to learn any more about his previous life, "...uh, and I found them."

"Well, bring them-"

"Already on it, miss-."

Lusamine hung up.

The phone rung again.

Lusamine picked up.

"Miss Prez, if I could-"

Lusamine hung up.

The phone rung again.

Lusamine made a guttural noise of frustration and switched the phone off violently. She crossed back over to the bed and lay back down next to Sun, who was hiding away slightly, still afraid he'd angered her somehow. Lusamine didn't read his body language at all as she pulled him close, and while he resisted at first, the fabric of her nightdress, the softness of her hair folding over him, her skin against his, took priority over her earlier outburst in Sun's brain. He melted into her again, placing all his trust in her, loving her. "I didn't tell you about your brother and sister, did I?"

Sun gasped. "I have a brother? And a sister?"

"Yes, you do, my sweet child. They're not like you. You're perfect." Lusamine had developed a habit of absentmindedly playing with his hair, and she did so as she spoke. "They were meant to be perfect, but neither one of them were ever as beautiful as you." She wasn't lying. She saw something in Sun, something new, something truly special. She didn't know what, but it made her heart flutter and her breath stop when she looked at him.

"What are they like? Was that them on the phone? Can I call them? Can I-"

"No, no, Sun, you have to be a surprise. They don't know about you yet. They're coming here soon, and you'll be able to meet them." Lusamine was regrettably wide awake now. "When they arrive, I want you on your best behavior."

"I'm always on my best behavior," Sun proudly announced.

"Good to know. Come on, Sun, let's get up now." Lusamine sent Sun up to his room to change out of his pajamas and back into the style she had laid out for him, while herself changing out of the nightdress she was wearing and into one of the many copies of her trademark dress. She waited for him in the living room, the first room upon entering the mansion. It was the largest room and had housed all manner of casual meetings between important officials as well as her family. Gold sparkles hung in the air and the black furniture made a statement against the white of the surroundings. Just another example of her uniform colour scheme.

Sun came back down from his room fully dressed, dragging her over to the mirror to admire them both. He was over the moon at their resemblance, before his smile vanished. "Mother, I- I'm missing something," he frowned. "I can't tell what it is."

Lusamine had to second-guess herself. She thought Sun looked exactly like her in every way, so she didn't understand his complaint.

"No, Sun, you're perfect. Look," she said and pointed into the reflection. "We're completely alike." She struck a pose as if taking a photo shoot alongside him. He was still frowning, and didn't play along. "What's the matter, Sun?"

"Something missing," he said shortly. "Sorry, mother." He trembled.

"What? You've got nothing to be sorry about, my sweet child." Lusamine didn't want him to be like this. It was already distressing to see him confused and upset. She wanted to cuddle him and protect him from the evils of the outside world, anything that might want to take him from her delicate and loving care. She'd given him a wonderful opportunity and it was one he was now taking wholeheartedly, so the last thing she wanted was to fail him in any way.

Sun shook his head, frustrated. "I'm not like you..." he mumbled, on the verge of some emotional outburst - which emotion was difficult to read. "Oh- wait!" He pointed to her chest in the mirror. "I'm missing that!"

Lusamine was in shock for a moment, then realised he was talking about the crystal mounted on the front of her dress. She exhaled sharply in an emulation of a huff of laughter. "You're right, Sun." She thought it strange how he had noticed that ornamental difference yet she hadn't.

"What are we going to do?" Sun was far more shook by this tiny difference that Lusamine expected. He looked like he was about to start crying. He nuzzled his head into her waist, leaning down in shame.

"Sun, calm down, it'll be fine." She patted him on the back gently. "We'll find you something. It's my fault for not thinking about it." She basked in the feeling of having Sun so close to her, like a little warm glow, a lantern's light against her body. "Come on now. Let's get up and about," she encouraged.

Breakfast was delivered from the Paradise's kitchens. The chefs on the Paradise worked around the clock feeding both Pokémon and people. Sun was still disturbed, Lusamine could tell. "Sun," she said, concerned. He wasn't eating very well - which was already very bad news indeed. "Sun, it's alright. It's nothing."

"I know." He continued to poke at his food morosely. "I'm not perfect."

"No, no, Sun, no, no!" Lusamine reassured. "You're beautiful!" Sun seemed less than convinced. "You're absolutely perfect!"

Sun met her eyes at last. "Are you sure?"

That was not right. That was not the same voice, that was not the right Sun. That was the Sun who had resisted. That was the Sun who had fought. The procedure had worked, absolutely it had, but that part of his personality, his stubborn nature, wasn't gone, and it had flipped to the point where that stubbornness toward being his own person was now instead pushing toward being just like her. That only meant good things once he was satisfied with himself. Lusamine reached across the table, holding her arm out. "Yes, Sun. I promise you, I'll find something. It doesn't matter right now, it doesn't. If I think you're perfect, you're perfect."

Sun at first looked unconvinced, then a small smile appeared on his face again. He reached out to her and they grazed fingertips, Lusamine nodding reassuringly. She retracted her arm and returned to her food, hoping Sun would do the same. It was only a few seconds before she knew he wouldn't, but she still went on eating to try and set the example. Sun continued to stare at her. It wasn't an antagonistic stare. It was as if he wanted to see so much of her he could somehow become her.

"Stop staring," she ordered, more scared by it than she may have liked to admit.

Sun found it difficult to tear himself away. "Sorry."

* * *

"He's a- he's an experiment," Lusamine explained to Wicke. "Make up whatever official sounding story you like should anyone ask, but he is mine, and he shouldn't hear it himself."

"He's that boy. Sun." Wicke was not to be deceived. "What have you done?"

Lusamine had taken Sun up to the Pokémon Conservation sector of the Paradise. They were in the Fairy-Type sector. Sun was throwing a Jigglypuff into the air and catching it as it floated down, playing some sort of game. The Jigglypuff in question had a green headband on, the Balloon Pokémon known for its strange liking toward human headwear.

"He wanted this. I have set him free," Lusamine gestured, indicating Sun's carefree state.

"It's too late to stop you," Wicke said with disapproval in every syllable. "Whatever you've done, it's too late for me to stop you."

"Are you questioning my authority?" Lusamine asked with a glare. Wicke was far smarter than Faba in battles of wit such as these.

"No, I'm saying I would have questioned your authority if you had informed me you were doing this to him. I'm also saying it is now too late for me to do anything for him except the best I can, which falls in line with what you want."

"So you'll look after him?"

"That's what I said," Wicke replied smartly. Lusamine couldn't get angry at her the same way she could at Faba. "I'll be with him for perhaps the next few weeks, then I'll be relying on you to take care of him." Lusamine didn't see it, watching Sun, but Wicke was visibly taken aback by the announcement. She was Vice-President, not a babysitter. In the past she'd looked after Lillie and Gladion, but that was more forgivable. Lusamine had always been a stone's throw away, and Wicke had been able to do admin tasks at the same time.

Sun threw the Jigglypuff upward again, the pink ball trying to outmaneuver Sun by drifting through the air. It used Pound to stall for time, Sun trying to stay below it. The shiny green material of its headband formed a trail behind it.

"What do you want with him?"

"It's not for your ears, Wicke." Sun caught it again and now dropped the Pokémon, which floated softly to the ground. He crouched to give it a pat on the curl on its forehead and it bounced away after a quick wave. Lusamine noticed a small group of Ralts collecting near Sun - they were attracted to positive emotion. "He's perfectly healthy. Forget what he was, Wicke. All that matters now is what he is."

"I'm afraid you may be right."

"Sun?" He looked up at Lusamine's call. "Come on," she beckoned. He crossed back to her side. The Pokémon followed him some of the way, stopping close to Lusamine.  
"What is it, mother?" Wicke looked from Sun to Lusamine at the word 'mother.'

"This is Wicke, assistant Branch Manager here at the Foundation. She will look after you when I am unable to."

Wicke noticed Sun's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly, his smile vanishing. He looked less than impressed with her. "Why?" he asked. It wasn't a childish question, it was a challenge. He didn't trust her.

"Sun, please. I can't be around you all the time. I'm very busy. So I'm relying on Wicke to look after you when I can't." Sun was still glaring. He looked murderous. Wicke already had reservations about him.

"But I want you," he begged, holding her around the waist as if to protect her. His expression softened as he looked up at her. Lusamine placed her hand on his head and stroked his hair.

"Sun, I can't be with you all the time," she repeated. He wasn't trying her patience simply because she knew he wanted to be as close to her as possible. "I trust miss Wicke here with you, and we won't be separated for more than a few hours at a time."

That made Sun brighten up a little, and he tried to give Wicke a smile. It looked very forced. The moment he dropped his smile, he looked embarrassed, lost. He clung tighter to Lusamine. "Are you going to go now?"

"No, Sun."

"Are we going now?" Lusamine understood Sun's meaning.

"We're going to the other conservation wings with Wicke," Lusamine said. "I want to show you the whole place."

"Can I say hello to all the Pokémon?" Wicke saw Sun's enthusiasm for Pokémon had remained, if little else. The conversation had unsettled her deeply. Lusamine may trust her with Sun, but Wicke didn't trust Sun with herself.

"Most of them," Lusamine replied to Sun, trying to encourage him, having picked up on his reservations toward Wicke.

Sun beamed properly now, even smiling at Wicke. "Come on then, let's go, let's go-" Sun was tugging at his adoptive mother's hand in an attempt to drag her with him.

"Calm down, Sun," Lusamine warned, but the three of them had set off.

As they passed through the Paradise complex Wicke and Lusamine took it in turns to explain the different functions and wings of the Paradise to Sun. Sun listened carefully, then rushed off to interact with the Pokémon under their watchful eyes. Wicke hadn't spoken about Sun again, remembering the way he looked at her. While in the Ice-type wing, she voiced her concerns at last.

"Is he safe?"

"Safe? I'll look after him, Wicke. I- I will never hurt him."

"No," Wicke said, "is he safe around others? He seems," she searched for the right word, "very, very agitated by the idea of you leaving him." Lusamine put a finger to her chin delicately, absently.

"I think he'll be okay once we've been together for a while. Once I really understand how he functions now."

"You're speaking like he's a toy. A machine." Wicke's voice was disapproving yet again. "Miss President, please - bear in mind he is still a boy with emotions and feelings, even if they are twisted." Wicke knew better than to cross Lusamine, especially now that she'd done this to Sun, but she had to voice her concerns.

"Of course I know that," was the response. "But remember he is mine, all mine." Wicke didn't sigh, but she wanted to. The President had clearly lost her mind, and Wicke's hands were tied - her fear of Lusamine was only matched by her concern for Sun.

"Miss President, listen to yourself! If you are going to go through with this charade I will absolutely not be a part of it unless he is treated well!" Wicke's indignation at Sun's situation was clear in her tone. She glanced at him: he was petting an Amaura, speaking to it soothingly.

"Wicke, what makes you think I won't treat him well?"

Wicke could have easily answered but knew not to. It'd only incur her anger. Instead she sighed, folding her arms. "I'll trust you. For now."

"Thank you. Oh- and if you would- order some more of those emerald shards from Driftveil City." Lusamine tried to say it offhand, but slipped up a little in delivery.

"May I ask what you plan to do with them?" Wicke said, already fulfilling the order. Sun was now trying to curl up next to an Alolan Sandshrew, which was hiding in its igloo-like armour.

"Sun wants something like mine," Lusamine said, tapping her fingernails on the crystal she wore.

"Very expensive fashion," Wicke murmured, a hint of disapproval Lusamine didn't pick up.

"Hm. I can afford it," Lusamine replied, amused.

"I dare say you can." Wicke replied. "It's done."

"Thank you very much."

"Oh, greetings, you two," came a familiar voice. Lusamine turned left and Wicke right to look behind them as Faba sauntered up to them. "Where's the boy? Abandoned him alre-" Faba saw Lusamine's expression change and stuffed the sentence.

"He's over there," Wicke said and pointed. Faba didn't look.

"Yes, yes, I see that," he waved irritably.

"Why are you here?" Lusamine hissed.

"To see the result. Call him over."

"You don't order me about, Faba," Lusamine told him, every syllable spoken with scorn.

"So he doesn't work?"

Lusamine had to imagine throttling him to avoid performing the act. "He works perfectly fine. And he is not some machine-" Lusamine avoided Wicke's glance at repeating her words. "- he's my son."

"I didn't realise you intended to keep up the delusion," Faba taunted. Sun was now watching the Sandshrew roll around, kicking up tufts of snow. "How childish. When are you getting the other two back so we can dispose of him?"

"We are not disposing of him! I am keeping him!" Faba's words had reminded Lusamine of Guzma's phone call. She made a mental note to chase it up with Guzma after she was done showing Sun around.

The chill of the Ice-type wing got to them all simultaneously as a bitter breeze passed through the area. Wicke was the only one watching Sun now, and saw him shake. "Sun?" she called.

"Yes, miss Wicke?"

"Are you warm enough?"

Sun thought. "No." He headed back towards them, Lusamine nodding her appreciation toward Wicke's concern. Faba meanwhile chortled at Sun's blunt response.

"Faba, leave us," Lusamine demanded.

"No. I want to observe how he turned out."

Lusamine grabbed Faba by the shoulder, digging her nails into him painfully. "If you so much as hint at any idea he's not my son, I will personally throw you off of the Paradise with an anchor round your ankles, wretch."

Faba smirked. "There should be no need."

"Good," Lusamine said and released him as Sun appeared at her side. She took Sun's hand, making Faba pull a face.

"Who's that?" Sun asked, pointing to Faba.

"That's-"

"I am Faba, Branch Manager here on the Aether Paradise, and head of our many varied and important projects to ensure Pokémon conservation, as well as some other duties," he interrupted Lusamine's reply, unaware that the act of him doing so made Sun scowl at him and hold onto the President tighter.

"I'd prefer if you let my mother tell me," Sun said in the voice, that one that told the listener there would be no negotiating, no bartering. Faba's mouth fell open in surprise, Sun's angry reaction less than what he expected.

"Excuse me, but I am just as important to the running of the-"

"You're not," Lusamine interrupted and set off, pulling Sun along with her.

"I don't like him," Sun said to Lusamine, but loudly enough for them all to hear. Lusamine laughed, Faba's face twitched with displeasure and Wicke remained neutral.  
Faba, spurned by the two, sneaked away as they transitioned into the Rock-type sanctuary, much to Sun and Lusamine's delight. Even Wicke was happy with the scientist's departure.

The rest of the tour passed without incident, and Sun was even able to build a little trust toward Wicke despite his earlier reluctance. When the time came for Sun and Lusamine to retire back to the mansion, Sun waved goodbye to Wicke with a far more genuine smile. Wicke waved back, hoping he would be happy at the Paradise.

* * *

"Goodnight, Sun," Lusamine whispered to him, switching off the light.

"Goodnight, mother," Sun replied, rolling over to fall asleep.

"Will you be able to sleep by yourself tonight?" Lusamine asked. She'd rather bring Sun to her room with her than have Sun come down in the middle of the night.

"Yes, mother. See you tomorrow," Sun mumbled into his pillow.

"See you tomorrow, Sun. I love you."

"I love you too."

Lusamine took the stairs back down to her bedroom and got changed to go to sleep. As she did so, she remembered Guzma's call. "Too late now," she dismissed and lay down, thinking of Sun as she fell asleep.

Sun meanwhile had no intentions of sleeping. He waited an hour, then two - then slowly, purposefully, got out of bed and looked at himself in the moonlit mirror. "Not perfect," he whispered. He needed to be reminded of what perfection was.

Slipping out of his room, he silently trod across the hall and to the stairs. Gliding across the mansion like a spectre, he found himself at Lusamine's room again. This time he wouldn't wake her, just admire her. Holding his breath, he placed his hand on the sheer black door handle and agonisingly, slowly, gradually pulled it down, opening the intricate white door.

He took two minutes just to cross the room to get to her bed. She was fast asleep. Sun smiled, and watched her sleep with a great pain in his heart. He wanted to be just like her. Exceedingly gently, he sat down and prepared to wait until morning.


	8. Malfeasance

"What is it?" The president sounded bitchy as usual.

"Oh, hey, miss Prez. You sound good this morning," Guzma lied.

"What is it?!" Lusamine repeated. "Don't waste my time with courtesy calls!" Guzma shut his eyes. You try to give a gal a compliment...

"So, I uh- I found ya kids. They were hanging out by the kid's-"

"STOP!" Guzma jumped. She had never been so loud over the phone before. He held it a little more distant from his ear than he may have usually done. "Give me one moment," she said, and there was a pause. "What?"

"They were hanging out by that one kid's house in Hau'oli. So I beat down that kid's mom like you asked me," Guzma paused, waiting for some sort of commendation but Lusamine was silent. "... uh, and I found them."

"Well, bring them-"

"Already on it, miss-" Guzma began, unsure of how to explain he had lost them. He didn't think that Gladion would've had the guts to actually go up against him, but he'd let his guard down.

Lusamine hung up. Guzma blinked. That must have been a mistake. He dialled again.

Lusamine picked up.

"Miss Prez, if I could-"

Lusamine hung up.

Guzma called again. This time the call didn't go through. He spat on the floor in anger.

The kid, Gladion, had somehow got a hit in on him when he wasn't looking. It was a big hit too, with a rock or something, because it hurt real bad. Guzma's head still rung with the impact. Since Gladion and Lillie escaped he had spent the night chasing leads around Melemele island, trying to find them again. They were slippery. Guzma turned on his heel dramatically toward the other Skull grunts. They had regrouped in Hau'oli city, and were stood around the marina. The waves crashed against the dock, and Guzma looked out to the Paradise in the dawning light.

"Form up, numbskulls. We're gonna search every inch of this island for those two."

* * *

Gladion's hands were still shaking, his knuckles still red. After the first hit Gladion had gone to town on Guzma for all the thinly veiled threats of violence Guzma had pushed toward him since he became Team Skull's enforcer. It was liberating to strike back, and it became all the more liberating for the three hits he managed while imagining it was Lusamine he was punching instead of Guzma. Lillie had avoided speaking to him, and he couldn't blame her. They were hiding out in the Seaward Cave, huddled in a corner of the dripping, dank tunnels. Gladion had a plan now, but it was a rushed one.

Kala'e bay was a popular place for fishermen, and if one came by who was kindly enough to give them a lift he'd take that all the way to anywhere that wasn't here. From there, he'd battle for money until Lillie could get a job to help and from there they could build new lives, far away from Alola.

Gladion hoped that Team Skull hadn't found Type: Null or Nebby. The two Pokémon were like the other halves of both his sister and himself. Maybe they could loop back to pick them up. If Null was recaptured it'd be put back in stasis indefinitely, and if Nebby was recaptured it'd be tortured until it opened an Ultra Wormhole. The Pokémon were safe so long as they were still with Kukui.

Gladion had been skimming pebbles across the surface of one of the underground reservoirs. He had a small stack beside him and was reaching the bottom when Lillie spoke.  
"Where do you think we should go?"

Skim. Three bounces. Gladion thought for a moment. His eyes searched for the answer in the darkness of the cave. "I'd say Unova. You know, the Unovan dream and all of that. It's close, too." Gladion had Unova in mind as a clear goal, but he'd take the wasteland of Orre over Alola right now. It was ironic that he should want to escape the arguably most idyllic region and would take the region known for its apocalyptic landscape over it.

"Unova's dangerous," Lillie said, as if that shut down all argument. Gladion knew she was just afraid.

"Listen to me," Gladion said, energetically shaking his hands to try and inspire some confidence in her. "Think about it. I have some money from Team Skull. We can go- go anywhere once we've made it out of here. Become Trainers, work hard, make a new life for ourselves!" He noticed he was draining his own confidence instead.  
Lillie didn't seem at all changed by the speech. "Gladion, we should just go back. Make sure she doesn't hurt anyone else."

 _"What?!"_ Gladion asked, his voice sharp. "No, Lillie, she will kill us. She will kill us and leave us for the damn Sharpedo." Gladion threw another pebble. It splashed right into the water, no bounces. It only increased his anger. "Hau - Hau is dead!"

Lillie waved her hand as if swatting flies. "No, no, no! Don't talk about-"

Gladion grabbed her wrist and spoke to her face. "Hau is dead, Sun is dead, and-"

Lillie put her free hand over her ear and pulled her other arm free of Gladion's grip to cover them both. She screamed, screwing her eyes shut. The scream became sobbing. Gladion wished he hadn't been so harsh. The adrenaline hadn't left him yet. "Why? Why did you get them to come after me? I wasn't worth this!" Lillie always seemed to put herself down. Gladion wished she'd stop, but it was her mother's behavior that had conditioned them into thinking of themselves as little more than trash.

"Lillie-"

"Hau and Sun- I'm _not worth-_ "

"Lillie, I'm-"

Lillie again swatted away his responses. "Hau was the kindest person I ever knew... he would have never hurt a single person, he was always smiling!" Lillie continued crying through the words.

"Lillie-"

"And- and- Sun-" She couldn't finish the sentence.

Gladion didn't comfort her. He felt he'd only make it worse. "Come on. Let's go to the bay." Lillie refused to move. She couldn't. So Gladion didn't move. "I guess we're staying."

* * *

"So you lost them." It was the next day and Lusamine had called Guzma first thing. He was nothing but a disappointing mess - still, his blunders had left her with more time to be with Sun and Sun alone. She wasn't anywhere near as angry as she thought she'd be. Her children were disobedient and disgusting creatures, unlike Sun. Why should she hurry to get them back? Lusamine did want some sort of outlet for her violent and less than ethical urges, but they hadn't reared their heads in a good while. Sun was safe.

"Uh, yeah," Guzma mumbled. "But I'm workin' on- workin' on findin' em. I swear, miss Prez, I'll find 'em eventually."

"There is no rush, Guzma."

"Huh?"

Lusamine hung up with a slight smirk.

"Mother?"

The smirk was ripped away in a nanosecond, and the President of the Aether Foundation leaned away from the source of the sound violently in a sort of jolt. She shrieked in terror as she moved, turning to face the speaker. "Oh, oh Arceus, Sun!"

Sun hadn't reacted to her fear at all, stood still with a big, silly smile. "Good morning!"

"Sun- you - when did you get in here?" Lusamine steadied herself, collecting her emotions and bleeding out the panic from her system. "Sun, you can't just-"

"Last night," Sun told her, moving to be closer to her. Lusamine put out her hands to warn him away. "What's wrong?" His smile had instantly vanished the moment she did so.

"Sun, you've been in my room since last night?!"

"I was going to go back to my room but I couldn't leave you," he swooned. He seemed confused by her reluctance to be near him.

"What is wrong with-" Lusamine pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, glaring at the ceiling. "Sun, you can't do that. Where were you- where were you hiding?"

"Well, I waited until you were asleep," Sun began, and Lusamine could hear that her questioning what was wrong with him had stung quite a lot. "When you woke up I hid under the bed."

He was absurdly, childishly innocent, but the programming they'd inflicted on him had made that almost predatory in nature. Lusamine watched his face. His little smile didn't falter, but his eyes were so ravenous it was like looking into a deep and dark maw. He took long, long pauses between blinking. There was something hideous to behold in it all.

"Leave me alone," she hissed.

Sun did not respond.

"Sun, go back to your room and-"

"No."

"What?" He was supposed to obey her. He was supposed to be hers! Why was he resisting like Lillie and Gladion were able to? Why was he still allowed to choose?

"I won't abandon you."

There was a charged silence. "Sun, I don't need you to protect me." She felt like she understood now. He was obsessive, protective, jealous. Not traits she had intended for, but traits that could be made to work. She lowered her voice and took the edge off, gentle now. "Sun, did you sleep at all?"

"No, mother." He seemed to be realising he had done something wrong now, his steely eye contact faltering, flickering. "I'm tired." That was the childish side again. Once Lillie and Gladion were back - once again, she wasn't sure whether it was better to get them back sooner or later - she'd ask them about Sun's personality traits. He seemed to convert between this cold, very blunt mindset and a carefree, happy one in seconds.

"Please, Sun, take care of yourself. I know you want to look after me, but you- you're just as important to me as I am to you." Sun was now avoiding looking at her. "Sun?"

He turned away, head hanging. He seemed heavily disheartened by her words. "I'm sorry, mother. I shouldn't have- I-"

Lusamine couldn't help but pity him, knowing it was simply what his (possibly malfunctioning) head had told him to do. "Sun, go to your room and go to sleep for a while. For me. Please."

Sun didn't move, his knees shaking. He fell down onto them and screamed, pounding the ground. "No, no, no..." He clutched his face as he started to cry, Lusamine rushing over to him. "No! No!"

"Sun!" She seized him from behind, dragging him back to his feet, turning him to face her. "Sun, calm down, it's - you're fine, you're fine-" he was so volatile, but once she'd worked him out she was confident he could be made perfect yet. "-Sun," she said. He had calmed down quickly in her arms, his eyes wide with adoration as she held him.  
"Mother... I'm sorry I can't be perfect."

"No, Sun. I can't believe how perfect you are." That made him smile again. It was so nice to see. "But Sun, you'll need to rest. I know, I know, you want to be with me. But you need to keep yourself healthy." She kissed him on the cheek as he nodded slowly. "Sun. Please. I'll come with you, and make sure you fall asleep."

"Okay, mother."

"I love you, Sun."

"I love you too, mother."

* * *

Sun was sound asleep. Lusamine felt an overpowering sense of sadness choking her and had to leave. She left the mansion with this sensation clouding her mind, filling her soul, making her feel faint. "There's something wrong," she admitted to herself. "I was wrong."

She had gone too far. Changed too much. Sun was so dear to her already, but that was too much. She couldn't have him do that - mostly because it reminded her of her own obsessive characteristics. And the last thing she wanted was for him to be like her, in at least some respects.

Trying to clear her head, she made her way to where Wicke would most likely be, the public conservation deck of the Paradise. She wanted to talk with her most trusted friend about Sun's issues. Wicke was a significantly more caring and thoughtful person than she currently was, which could help if Sun would trust her.

She was muttering under her breath as she walked, coming up with ways to help Sun. They'd all take time and effort, which were things Lusamine didn't have. Her mind was always occupied with the running of the Foundation, her mental state taking a backseat to running the well oiled machine.

She stumbled suddenly, grasping a handrail to steady herself, attracting some glances. Gritting her teeth she regained her balance. Her hair drifted into her face and she swept it aside. Imperfection. She put so much effort into her appearance and yet one tiny mistake could undo it.

The Paradise was a monument to perfection, a bastion of her family's past triumphs. It had always held some sort of dark secret - hers was the research into UB's and the creation of Type: Null - perhaps now Sun too. It carried the ideals of her family through the generations, proudly displaying the purity of white, the strength of black and the esteem of gold in its colours. A true paradise.

Wicke was where Lusamine had expected her to be, thank Arceus. Her current mood wouldn't have allowed for Wicke to be elsewhere. She'd have lost it, given up and rushed back to Sun to cry or scream or just stare into space.

Wicke gave a small, polite wave at Lusamine's approach. "Hello, miss President. Where's - where is Sun?"

Lusamine made a pained facial expression and shook her head. "I'll- I'll explain in a minute. Are you busy?"

"Not too busy right now, miss President. Is Sun healthy? Is he safe?" Lusamine dodged the question again. "Miss President-"

"He's fine. He's sleeping right now."

"I see."

"Wicke, he's fine. I need to talk to you."

"Certainly, miss President." Wicke gave a bow of acknowledgement. "What is it?"

"Can we talk in private? Maybe down in the employee café?" Wicke followed Lusamine onto one of the elevators and the President punched in the floor code.

"Are you feeling well, miss President?" Wicke could see Lusamine's hand shaking. Aware it was happening, Lusamine closed her hand into a fist and willed it to cease, and it did.

"Relatively."

No more words were exchanged, an awkward silence congealing as they descended. Upon reaching the floor with the café Wicke seemed to remember something, gasping.

"Oh- oh yes, miss President, the emeralds you asked for import from Unova have arrived. They're down in the dock's storage space, employees are waiting for you to sign off on it."

"Thank you, Wicke." Lusamine sounded truly grateful. The café was as pristine as anything else in the Foundation, bathed in soft golden light cast from squares on the ceiling. The seats were organised into comfortable booths, the riches of the Foundation were hard at work here to ensure that its employees worked equally hard. It was as much a paradise for people as it was for Pokémon. They sat together in a corner of the large space, the two of them attracting some attention as the highest ranking members of the Foundation.

"What is it, miss President?"

Lusamine couldn't speak.

"Miss President?"

"I was wrong."

"About Sun?"

"Yes. He's a little... a little too obsessive." She splayed her fingers on the black table between them. "I woke up this morning to find... he had decided to watch over me all night."

Wicke had no reaction, her poker face strong in the face of the information. "All night?"

"He said he didn't sleep."

"Oh. Oh my." Wicke delicately covered her surprised expression with her hand. "Is he-"

"He's safe, I've put him to bed. Asleep, like I said." Lusamine's eyes were cast in shadow, her fingers massaging her forehead. "I wanted to- wanted to ask you what I should do."

"You wanted to ask me?"

"If left to my own devices, I may well hurt him in an attempt to set him right." Lusamine admitting this shocked Wicke. This was enough to convince her she was at least trying to make a fresh start with Sun, even if everything else about the whole clandestine project was a moral and ethical mess. "And I can't. I mustn't hurt him. I will show him all the love I can muster, make him perfect."

Wicke noticed Lusamine digging her nails into the table. "Please, miss President. Relax. I'll help." Lusamine had a past of going too far to 'fix' things without even realising it. Wicke tried to steer her back to calmer waters before Lusamine crashed and burned Sun the same way she did everything else.

"Thank you, Wicke. What should I do?"

"I don't know... how bad is he?"

Their discussion lasted three cups of coffee and one lava cookie. By the end Wicke had found something of a strange sympathy for Lusamine's situation despite her intense disgust at her friend's acts. Lusamine had driven herself to insanity with the sheer amount of work and encouragement from those trying to take advantage of her like Faba. Sun seemed healthy from what Lusamine had said, which was all she was worried about.

Sun hadn't deserved what was done to him, but he wasn't in any pain and he was being treated right. Wicke knew it was wrong to help with Sun's conditioning, but couldn't help herself - she had to make sure he was well. If she was told what was being done to him, Wicke would have absolutely spoken against it. Now it was done she was too afraid to try to free Sun or defy Lusamine. Would Lusamine do a similar thing to her if she tried to foil whatever plot she had?

Lusamine had lost her composure more and more as the conversation went on. By the end she was just muttering sentences either in response to Wicke's questions or unintelligible statements on Sun's safety.

"What about when he... grows up?"

"He will replace me."

That made a... lot of sense. If she programmed him right he'd simply be an extension of her will once she stopped managing the Foundation. At the same time though Sun may end up just as demented as her.

"Not Faba?"

Lusamine laughed. The laugh became a hysterical fit, Lusamine wiping away tears of mirth. "Oh, of course not Faba. Maybe you, if he's not ready, but never Faba. He works so hard because he wants promotion. So I won't promote him."

That made sense too, and it made Wicke smile nervously. "I suppose."

"Right," Lusamine said, reinvigorated after her short fit of giggles. "I'm going to go down to the dock. If you could meet me at the mansion later on tonight, let yourself in?" Lusamine had stood, and was already moving.

"Certainly, miss President."

The talk had cleared Lusamine's head, and she felt at peace again.

* * *

The deep green crystals had been locked into a black collar, similar to the golden one at the top of Lusamine's dress. It wouldn't wrap around the whole of the wearer's neck, ending in a clawlike protrusion that stuck out on either side.

Lusamine placed the collar onto Sun's neck, where the emerald glimmered briefly in the light. Sun twitched for a moment, Lusamine registering the movement as a jolt of pleasure. For a moment the two stood side by side, where they admired each other.

"Are you perfect now, Sun?" Sun couldn't speak. There was too much emotion in the moment for him. His breath came in little gasps. He mouthed the word, _'wow,'_ touching the collar lightly. He reached out to his mother's hand. Lusamine didn't take it. "Are you?"

"Yes," he said. "I'm beautiful."

"You are." Now she linked her fingers with his, feeling his warm skin between her cold digits. "Sun. My perfect boy."

Sun had a bright, cheerful smile. They continued to observe their reflections. Lusamine ate up the sight of Sun's smiling face. Sun consumed the look of desire on hers. Lusamine pulled him around to face her at last, dragging him away from the mirror.

She lifted him up with a little difficulty. She carried him across the room, laughing along with him, before sitting him down on the bed and lying over him. She took his arms and held them over his head, kissing him deeply. He squirmed excitedly beneath her, trying to break free of her grip to hold her with the same sort of passion. Her hair fell over his body, cocooning him.

Her lips left his. He felt empty. "M- mother?"

"Sun, we shouldn't - shouldn't interact like that." Lusamine had retreated off of him entirely, sitting on the edge of the bed. There was a beautiful, elegant curve to her posture that Sun had a primal desire to break and lie her back down flat again. Her face looked pale, afraid. "We mustn't."

Sun didn't want to hear it. He put his arms around her slim neck and kissed her shoulder. She made a noise of pleasure, a sort of desperate mewling. He felt confident. He'd show her it was alright, that he loved her, perhaps more than a son should. He would rip anyone who tried to hurt her limb from limb.

"No," she gasped. "No, Sun."

Sun relented. He wouldn't ignore a direct order from her, not anymore. He was desperate to touch her, feel her, know her as he did himself. Discipline stayed his hand.  
Lusamine's eyes were firmly shut. She sipped on air, feeling her lungs make her chest swell and fall. She could not give in to any of her desires. "Sun, we can't do that." The danger that she was trying to keep in check was that horrifying predatory side. Shaking, she tried to control herself. "We can't. I'm sorry."

In the back of her mind the black whispers reached out to convince her. ' _He is just as eager as you. You made him to do this. He isn't yours._ ' She stuffed them all under an iron will. "Stay away from Sun," she said to herself. "Stay away or we will- we will be at war."

Sun sat opposite her on the edge of the bed, a rare occasion where he wasn't fawning over her. He was staring at his white shoes. There was an ocean of guilt, the tide rising in his gut. He needed to think. It was as if he was truly... attracted to her, and that made him sick, that wasn't right. Her warnings to herself were lost on him as he remained deep in thought.

"I love you more than anything else," his mother assured, bringing him back to the moment. "But Sun, I could... I could hurt you if we go too far."

Something in Sun's head pinged painfully and he twitched. Lusamine noticed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, mother." The pain was fleeting.

"Are you sure?" Lusamine instantly made the connection. Sun's mind was delicate, and perhaps there were some gaps in the mental conversion they had performed. Sun shook his head.

"It just... just hurt. Like I couldn't think.

"Lie down, Sun."

Sun obliged and kicked off his shoes before twisting to lie back on his bed, on the soft white sheets. He pushed his hand into his forehead. "Hurts." He felt her touch relieve the pressure he was applying and she brushed her thumb over his brow.

"Sun, you... you're my perfect boy."

"Thank you, mother."


	9. Abandonment Issues

Kala'e Bay was as amazing as it was said to be. The tide came in calm, relaxed, and the shape of the cliffs above created a beautiful basin in which the bay resided. It was a small space, but that simply made it all the more breathtaking, all the more magical.

It was easy to let the waves carry away all their troubles, let the breeze restore their souls. It was impossible not to fall asleep to the sounds of the sea and it felt entirely safe.

Gladion had found peace there. It was rare that he could ever find even an instant to drop his guard. He had learned fast and never forgot: if you think you're safe, you're not. Not safe from his mother, not safe from Guzma - for a while he was even afraid of Sun, who had routinely decimated his team of Pokémon and made Null look entirely useless.

But with the unspoken promise of Kala'e Bay hanging in the air, he felt safe enough to take a break. The waves glittered in the moonlight, sheets of light gliding over the surface of the water.

Lillie was the one awake now, on guard. Gladion was sleeping, lying on one of the large, flat rocks that cut apart the shoreline in a jagged beauty. Lillie was struggling. She didn't believe she was worth all the mess they were in. Like Gladion had said, Hau and Sun were dead because of her. Nebby and Null had been separated from them. Her thoughts had wandered to dark places, her mind slipping in and out of the thick mire of depression.

The strongest fear wasn't that they'd be caught by their mother, but that the pressure would make them just like her. Gladion's psyche was already showing cracks resembling Lusamine's broken mind. If it came down to it, Lillie would absolutely take the easy way out instead of ending up like her.

Anything could happen so long as she wasn't like Lusamine. She looked down at her pale hand and felt a now familiar headache brewing.

* * *

Sun and Lusamine shared a moment there, Lusamine stroking Sun's forehead, Sun saying nothing, doing nothing, his expression neutral.

"Sun," she said, and he registered his interest with an almost invisible rise of his eyebrows. "Miss Wicke is coming here in a short while to speak to you."

Sun's eyebrows subsequently dropped, into a hardy expression. "What for?" His voice wasn't entirely abrasive but it wasn't neutral.

"We're just going to talk. I'll be there too." Sun relaxed.

"You..." Sun looked into the furthest corner of the room as if there was something of great interest there. "You don't- you're not going to get rid of me, are you?" He was quiet, afraid, withdrawn.

"No, Sun, no..." Lusamine pulled him into a hug. He hugged her in kind. "Sun, why would I ever want to get rid of you?" She loosened her hold on him so she could look at him closer without letting him go. "My perfect-"

"But... being perfect..."

"Sun. You are beautiful. You are perfect."

He didn't seem convinced. Lusamine lay him back down. "I'll come up to get you when Wicke arrives." She got up off of the bed and gave Sun one last glance. He looked so... so shrunken, so recessed. Before she'd even left he started to wrap himself in the duvet. It wasn't cold, was it?

The corridors connecting the rooms were blank. All of the photos of Lillie and Gladion were gone. Most of the photos of herself were gone. Some of the art was gone. In her fervor to rip out the cancer of her biological children and replace that sickness with Sun, she had gone through everything in the mansion to ensure it met a new standard of perfection that had to match up to her and Sun.

Everything felt lifeless now, sterile, and maybe that was good. Like a Petri dish once thriving but since burned away to nothing, leaving only a foundation for another colony. Clean it all. Just like Sun. Clean it all, remove all the corruption that her children had spread through his sweet mind, and replace it with beauty.

If nothing worked - if Sun remained obsessive - she could freeze him until they were ready to try something else. There was always that. Freezing him would be a little hazardous to his health, but it'd keep him safe, keep him perfect... maybe forever. Hide him away in the trophy room deep below the Foundation, with all the other specimens.

She felt a shiver of excitement course up her spine like electricity. Sun, a monument to himself and her... a statue to what made them perfect. The idea was tantalising, delicious, but one that was both impractical and suboptimal. Sun could be worked out yet, his errors removed with a little tweak of conditioning here, some wheedling and convincing there.

The image of him, frozen, seeing but unseeing, stuck in a perpetual half life, nagged at her mind. If he wasn't already perfect - if he wasn't already dedicated to being her son, she may have done it. While he was still himself, the ugly creature afflicted with the blights of her children, she could have put him on ice and left him deep below the Paradise.

Her thoughts took her to the main room and onto the black couch where she waited for Wicke's arrival with a datapad in hand, keeping up to date with Alola's happenings. No reports of Sun's vanishing. Kids had a tendency to simply vanish - especially those on Pokémon journeys, which were fraught with danger and creatures that could kill you without even thinking to.

Sun wasn't an idiot. He had known what to do and when, and that was what took him so far across the island challenge. Most journeys ended in a Trainer either crippled or scarred for life, often both. He had become a mini celebrity, but those were made all the time and disappeared just as fast, some random act of chance conspiring to end the prodigy's quest early. That she should have the honor of being the one to halt the Kantonian in his tracks and effectively delete him from history made her smile.

The main room was the only place where a photo of the family still resided. A picture of Gladion, holding a Cleffa on his head, while Lillie hugged a Lillipup. Behind them she stood, a smile on her face that she could no longer remember the honesty of. It rested on the mantelpiece above the black fireplace, which hadn't been lit in years. Lusamine couldn't quite bring herself to remove it. Sentimentality was a single weakness that she indulged in.

It was back when Gladion was a good boy, when Lillie was adorable, when... Lusamine was... before she became so interested in Ultra Space. She wasn't wearing her white and gold dress, instead wearing a dress split between black and white, two sides in conflict. Now, though, she wore plain white, a trim of gold, a beautiful and luxurious outfit befitting one with such status as herself. Lusamine had accepted her place, as the perfect being, the- the- her thoughts guttered and blinked out of existence. Her face twitched. Those times with Lillie and Gladion, times of happiness, would never come back, never be replicated. She had to find a new measure of happiness, and she felt like she was on the cusp of being able to grasp it and finally be normal again.

She went back to the mantra of madness. "Lillie, Gladion, Sun. Lillie, Gladion, Sun. Lillie, Gladion." That wasn't right. "Sun." How had she forgotten him? "Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun," she repeated. She was reminded that she still hadn't had the desk replaced, still covered in her makeshift graffiti. "Sun, Gladion, Lillie."

A happy family. That was what she wanted. If they'd just be obedient, she'd love them with all her heart.

"Sun, Gladi- Sun." Sun was all she needed.

She switched off the datapad and stared into the black mirror. Looking for imperfection, finding none.

"Miss President?" Lusamine jolted at the voice. Wicke had come in unannounced- she relaxed at her Assistant Branch Manager's friendly face. "Are you feeling well?"

"Yes, Wicke, yes." Lusamine stood up.

"Shall we speak to Sun?"

Lusamine made an expression Wicke had difficulty identifying. It was like fear... but not truly scared. Apprehension, maybe. Her delicate eyebrows were marginally raised in concern and her mouth wasn't wide open but it wasn't shut. "I... yes."

"Are you scared of him?" Wicke's question was entirely innocent, no challenge, no ulterior motive that may have been there had Faba asked it.

"No. I just... hope we can help him." The President's sincerity made Wicke think that maybe, with just a bit of nudging, the President could see the insanity in all of this and somehow undo it all and change for the better. Wicke didn't comment however. She had to be sure that Lusamine wouldn't just explode at her if she chose to protest. Lusamine took a deep breath. "Sun?" she called. "Sun?!"

"Coming, mother!"

His eager footsteps rang down the hallway. The two women exchanged a glance. Sun dashed down the stairs and slid to a halt in the centre of the room. "Hello, Sun," Wicke greeted, her voice kind. Sun, thankfully, seemed amicable toward her.

"Hi, miss Wicke."

Wicke sat beside Lusamine. "Would you like to sit down with us?"

"Yes please," Sun said and squeezed in between them, Wicke moving up to be further from Lusamine so Sun could be beside her. Lusamine drew him closer and he leaned against her with a big grin, looking up at her as she stroked his hair. Lusamine was well aware of the odd habit she had developed, and it was all that prevented her from changing his hairstyle. It felt nice to put her fingers through. "Hi," he said again, feeling a little awkward. He didn't really want to share moments like these with Wicke.

"Hi, Sun." She gave him a little wave. Sun reciprocated it, again a little awkwardly. "Did Lusa- did your mother tell you what I'm here for?"

"She said you wanted to speak to me." Sun pressed further back against Lusamine shyly. "There's nothing wrong with me. I promise." He looked afraid.

"Oh, no, Sun, that's not what this is about," Lusamine assured. Sun twisted to look at her, eyes wide and eyebrows raised, the cute expression of someone wholly dependent on her.

"Please, mother, I'm not- I'm not bad-"

"Sun, please, trust me, I don't-"

"Mother, I'm not-"

"Sun, it's fine, it's fine," she tipped his chin in her hand, bopping his nose with her finger. He shook off the contact, confused, sniffling like a Pokémon. Lusamine giggled. "Relax, my darling."

Sun took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"Well... how do you feel about your mother?" Wicke asked, looking at Lusamine for guidance. Lusamine nodded, the motion too small for Sun to notice.

"I love her," he said, snuggling even closer beside her, pushing against the soft black couch. "I love her a lot."

"That's good, Sun," Wicke said with a smile. It was forced, but it looked far more natural than any other Lusamine had seen. She appreciated the effort. "And Lusamine, how do you feel about Sun?" Lusamine gave Wicke a quizzical look.

"Of course I love him too," she replied.

"Sun, how do you feel about your mother's business - this whole Foundation?" Wicke gestured with her hands, forming a circle in the air while speaking the word _'whole.'_ The act she was putting on was impressive.

Sun's smile remained in place. "It's great! I really like Pokémon too," he said. "I know them all!" Lusamine glanced down at him, feeling him stiffen. "How do I know them all?" His voice wasn't as excited now. "When did I learn about them?"

Wicke's eyes widened and she glanced at Lusamine. Lusamine recognised this was her problem to solve - Wicke knew nothing about what had been done to his head. "Sun, I don't think that's important right now-"

"- but I know them all..." He looked puzzled. "How... how do I..."

Lusamine took his shoulder in an iron grip. "Sun."

"Mother, how do I-"

"Sun." Her tone was no-nonsense.

He continued to look bemused for a moment, then shook himself off and brought back the smile. "Um, I like it," he said.

"It must take a lot to run it, don't you think?" Wicke took Sun's brief confusion in her stride.

"Yes, but that's why mother is amazing," he said.

"She... she certainly is, Sun," Lusamine was amazing alright, amazing in how she'd done all this to him and got away with it, how she continued to throw morality aside with abandon, "but she's going to need to return to running it full-time soon - and that means she can't be with you."

Sun's face fell. He paled. "No. I don't want her to go. I don't want her to go."

"Sun, she won't be gone. You'll still see her, she just can't be with you all the time." Wicke reached out to comfort him but he shrunk away. "We just need you to understand that."

"Mother, you're not- don't abandon me, please..."

Lusamine cuddled him tight, his head against her chest. He blushed slightly but maintained his look of worry. She had a terrible idea. Maybe there was a way to sate him. So he wouldn't pine for her so strongly. The idea would satisfy her desire too. Maybe, just maybe, he'd appreciate the _full_ extent of her love.

"Sun. What are you?"

"I'm... I'm your perfect boy."

"Yes, you are. I'll never abandon you."

Wicke nodded along with the conversation, ignoring her skin crawling. "Sun, would you be okay with that?"

Sun twiddled his fingers. "Um... I might get... I might get lonely."

"Well, I'll see about bringing your brother and sister back here," Lusamine said. Sun smiled at the mention of his mysterious siblings.

"What are they like?"

Lusamine gently removed Sun from her lap and crossed the room, picking up the single picture. "Here," she said, handing it to him without looking at it herself.

"What are they called?"

Lusamine's lips were pursed. Wicke spoke. "Your... your... sister is called Lillie, and your brother Gladion. They're a little older now," Wicke said, knowing the photo in the frame.

"I want to meet them."

Lusamine didn't reply. She regretting bringing them up.

"Mother, can I meet them?"

"Maybe, Sun." She hugged him again, lying back on the couch with him on top. "Maybe."

"They look as perfect as-"

"Sun."

"What?"

Lusamine looked unstable. Wicke saw the expression and distracted Sun. "So if they were here, you think you could manage your loneliness better?"

"Yes, miss Wicke. I like you," he added.

"Thank you, Sun. Me and your mother will discuss it some other time."

Discussions would most certainly take place.

* * *

"Found them yet?"

"Nah, miss Prez, we been tearing the island up, but we ain't found nothin'."

"Remember when I said there was no rush?"

"Yeah?"

"Things have changed."

"Oh."

"Check every inch of that island. If they get away... Arceus knows what I'll do."

"Yes, miss Prez."

"Stop calling me that."

"Uh... Sorry, miss... uh... Prez."

"Idiot. If you can't do this I'll need to find someone else."

"Gimme a chance here, please."

"I gave you a chance."

"Gimme two."

Something about his quick response and lack of awareness made her smile despite her annoyance. "Fine."


	10. fucking

Lusamine had an idea.

The idea, as it stood, was to...

The idea was terrible, and it meant she was still no good, still dangerous, still not a worthy mother for someone as pure as Sun.

The idea was to fuck him.

She could guess that Sun was attracted to her. That was the plan all along after all - but she may have gone too far. Not on purpose, nor even trying to toe the line. She kept the material she had exposed him to during his conversion entirely safe. This _wasn't her fault,_ _damn it._ But she had his best interests at heart.

Maybe.

The issue had been deliberated for several hours in her conscience, ever since Wicke left. She was hungry for the base reward of manipulating him to satisfy herself. She knew doing so would tread a path that could ruin him and potentially make him even more obsessed.

It was a chance she didn't know if she was willing to take. Lusamine had not been a good person for over at least seven years. This would not be a departure but rather a return to form if you could call it that. And unlike Lillie and Gladion, he'd enjoy it.

In the dead of night, a long dormant evil stirred in her heart.

She quelled the voice that resisted, the voice that a moment ago was the dominant one. Nothing would stand between her and what she wanted. She slithered out of her bed, clad in a plain black nightdress, barefoot, her hair no longer styled as it usually was. Her green eyes, radioactive, stared through the dark.

Footsteps were silent, slow and measured. A spectre she was, and a terrifying, commanding one at that, one with all the authority and strength befitting her titles. The door opened as if in a vacuum. No noise. No resistance. As it should be. Her hands twitched with anticipation and she fulfilled their desire for contact by gliding them along the handrails, leaning forward as she took the stairs. Extending to her maximum height at the summit of the staircase, she expelled a breath of excitement and prowled down the corridor to Sun's room.

With her fingers ensnaring the handle to the door, the voice of reason spoke choice words - _"Do you really want to do this?"_ and the monster did not reply. _"You can't hurt him."_ The monster growled. It had come too far already to be denied this prey. She slipped into the room and shut the door.

"Sun?" she called sweetly.

He was groggy, confused. "Huh?"

"Sun?"

He shook off the tiredness and smiled. Lusamine's eyes had adapted to the dark, Sun's hadn't. He couldn't see the expression she wore, which was nightmare-inducing, and had been for Lillie and Gladion before him. "Hello, mother. Why did you wake me up?"

His words were an exact call back to the first time she had done this to Lillie. That made the hidden expression even more animalistic, even more debased. The monster that wore Lusamine spoke, and the words had been spoken before. "I think it is time I showed you how much mother loves you."

Sun sat up straight in bed, still smiling. Lusamine leaned forward, into the single line of moonlight that peered from the curtains. Her face was illuminated. Sun's smile faltered as if the signal was dipping on a television screen. Then his face went blank, eyes wide. Lusamine came closer, vanishing from the moonlight, her eyes nearly glowing with anticipation. She got up on the bed on her hands and knees, Sun frozen beside her. Her claws took away the duvet between them, tossing it aside without a second glance. The same claws then turned to Sun, caressing, stroking, feeling, manipulating, and most importantly touching.

He wasn't trying to push her off but he was meeting her touches with brushes of his own hands, not quite swatting at her but trying to create space to breathe under her onslaught of love. "M- mother-" he begged as she put one leg on either side of his waist and lowered her crotch to be against his, feeling the heat of his body, the embarrassment, the shock, the fear... the delectable, tasty fear. "Mother, why - what are we doing?"

Her palm pushed against his jawline on the left side, her thumb locking over his lips on the right and her fingers pushing into his face. The combined force pushed his head into the pillow hard, keeping him from looking at her as she pulled at his waistband between her legs. It was only a playful series of tugs. She didn't want in yet. "Mother..." he whimpered.

The act of pulling at the material became a spider like movement of the hand, scuttling up under his nightshirt, nails jabbing against his chest: his shirt was pulled up and over his head as the creepy sensation continued, before it was ripped off by her free hand.

"Mother, I don't know if I-"

"Sun," she breathed and brought her face down very close to his. "Sun, you don't get to choose right now." She took one of his arms, which was held in a defensive position near his face. She watched him as she moved his arm, slowly, agonisingly, up and inside her dress to touch her. He looked so, so beautiful. Eyes wide in horror. Mouth agape. His fingers brushed against the fabric of her lingerie. His mouth closed and his eyes narrowed suddenly.

That was unexpected. She tightened the grip on his wrist, assuming an attempt to get away was incoming. He was trying to do something alright. He shook beneath her, and she could feel his arousal now, her crotch still close to his, only his fingers and pyjama bottoms separated the two.

Now he made contact with her bare flesh, Lusamine pushing him into her, his fingers swallowed up one by one, one at a time. He wasn't making any noise, wasn't crying. He was meeting her eyes exactly. It felt so good. Someone who had meant so much to the two cretinous abominations she once called children now bringing her a pleasure she hadn't felt in a long while. Subservience was the only path for those who wanted all of her love. She continued to force Sun into and out of her, in a steady rhythm. "How does that feel?" Lusamine teased. Sun's shivering had stopped.

"It feels good," Sun replied. His tone was all wrong. He was meant to be scared, not... not enthusiastic about this. He wasn't meant to-

Lusamine let go of him. He started moving of his own accord, pumping his arm back and forth faster and faster, bringing his other arm up to grab her waist.

"But- but Sun-" Lusamine bit her lip, avoiding vocalising her pleasure. "Sun," she gasped as he went further than usual, "Sun, _wait-"  
_  
She couldn't lose control. She had to be in charge or else it'd all be worthless. She regained her composure and took both of his wrists. He stopped. "Now, now, Sun," she began. Where was she going with this? She'd been taken out of character, so to speak. That wasn't good. She was becoming aware of what she was doing.

"Mother," Sun moaned and tried to reach up to her. "I want it."

"Then you can have it." The creature wasn't back, but Lusamine clung onto the request like a lifeline. She took off her dress quickly as Sun stripped himself down, moved in close and kissed his shoulder, then his neck, then his lips. Her hands explored his naked body, not too close, but close enough.

"Mother, are we going to-"

His question was answered.

That which had driven her to do this roared with triumph as did the voice in the back of her mind, her voice. The first spoke of another victim, another slave, another toy to use as she pleased and when. The second had similar thoughts. Sun was now all those things. And she'd never been scared of defeat until Sun arrived on the Paradise for the second time. Now, the one who could best her was twisted around her finger, forced into her, her child, her property, he was hers. Torn away from Lillie, Gladion, Hau, and anyone else who had encouraged his ugliness in the past.

Sun was overwhelmed. He wasn't scared, which was denying her a modicum of satisfaction. She wanted to get aggressive with him, hurt him, make him beg - but when the beast thought of doing those things Lusamine reined it in, taking that thirst to inflict pain and quenching it by guiding him over her body, letting him explore the same way she had. It was generosity.

The rest of the experience blended together into something sweet, something bitter. She had done it, her resolve had collapsed. When she had done this to Lillie and Gladion she wouldn't stop until she was satisfied, but Sun was different. The brief lapse in her conviction had created a gap in the monster's invasive consciousness, that told her to keep Sun safe, allowed her to regain control.

She became more gentle slowly, gradually easing Sun out of the act and relaxing him. It took an hour, but by the end of it, Sun was sleeping again, a look of peace on his face. Somehow... somehow it had been successful. Lusamine dressed herself again and left quietly.

Reaching her bedroom she fell onto her bed, bit a pillow, filling as much of her mouth as possible with it, and screamed. Tears ran down her face as she pounded the mattress, horrified by what she had allowed herself to do _yet again._

She didn't sleep at all. All she had done was confirmed that she was still corrupt, still host to something terrible. Herself.


	11. hash889cc8

Guzma had been given a second chance he didn't want to waste.

Every island on Alola was big, but Melemele was the smallest of the four, meaning the least ground to cover. And still Gladion and Lillie evaded him. Desperation gave way to fear, fear that they may escape and the President came down on him like a ton of bricks.

They'd searched the island over several times and found nothing at all, even with grunts camping outside hotels and the like to watch for the two. So Guzma's agitation was understandable. The most irritating thing about it all was that he had them and then they ran off. He was the big, bad boss of Team Skull and somehow a kid had smacked him upside the head and got away. He'd need some real muscle for this job. Not all of Team Skull was present on the island, but it would be soon. Mobilising the whole Team was a rare occurrence, but when it happened, the Team always seemed to get what it needed - the takeover of Po Town was one such time the whole Team had been present.

With the extra manpower, Guzma had decided to take a break and go to a little cove he'd heard about from the local grunts. And of course they were there.

Of course they were.

Guzma formed a simple, effective plan. He grabbed Lillie first, then had Gladion under control, with a knife to his sister's throat. Guzma was very good at simple, effective plans such as those. The locals might have thought Skull were pointless and misguided riffraff but Guzma thought of himself as more than that - and the knife, the violence it purported, was confirmation of it.

"Please," the girl was begging, "please don't hurt me, please-"

"-Shaddup!" Guzma grunted. "You needa relax. As for you, Gladion, you gonna come quietly now, huh?" He put the sharp edge very close to Lillie's flesh, making her scream and beg even louder.

"Let her go," Gladion demanded. Guzma laughed.

"You stupid, kid?"

"Are you?"

Guzma was taken aback. "What?" He looked left and right, wondering if there was some sort of prank afoot.

"Our mother won't let you hurt Lillie, will she?" Gladion said, with some confidence. And he was right. "So let her go."

"Well," Guzma said, only now realising Gladion was correct, "I'm still not gonna let her go." Lillie was still now. "Seems we're at an impa- an impa- seems we've got a disagreement."

"Impasse," Gladion said.

"Impasse," Guzma repeated. "How about I call some of my goons to come solve it?"

Gladion struggled with himself. There had to be a way to escape. He could just leave Lillie. That idea was disgusting and he crushed it. He could attack Guzma again, but this time it probably wouldn't work. He had to try.

He was moving without thinking, toward Guzma. "Alright," he said, sounding amicable. Hopefully Guzma would drop his guard and he could pull something off.

Once Gladion was close enough, Guzma put the knife away. "See? Wasn't so difficult, was it?" He moved Lillie in his grip, keeping a firm hold on her arm.

Gladion was nearly close enough to-

Guzma let go of Lillie suddenly, pushing her to the ground, and swung his wrist at Gladion, knocking him down too. **"YOU - DON'T - FUCK - WITH - ME!"** Guzma screamed in between punches, beating down Gladion the same way Gladion had attacked him.

"No!" Lillie cried but neither of the other two heard her.

"You-" Guzma pointed back at her, Gladion comatose on the coarse sands of the bay, "you shut up." He dragged Gladion to his feet, kicking up drifts of sand in the motion. Gladion coughed and spat, blood running down his chin from a split lip. "What's wrong with you?!" Guzma bellowed at the boy in his grip. "Can't take a beating?"

"More than you know," Gladion hissed.

"Not from me you haven't." Guzma punched him in the stomach - hard. Gladion doubled over and spat more viscous blood onto the shore. "Ya should be glad. S' far as I know, Prez has a surprise for ya."

He glared down at Lillie. "Get up."

Lillie sniffed and slowly, carefully stood. She held her hands in front of her in a clear sign of surrender. Guzma huffed approval. "See? She knows what to do."

* * *

Sun woke up alone. He recalled the last night and rubbed his wrist shyly as he sat up, a smile and a blush on his face. He took his pillow in his arms and hugged it, squeezing his eyes shut, his smile turning into a big grin. She loved him.

He rocked back and forth with the cushion in his hold, blissfully burying his face into it to laugh to himself quietly. Once he'd recovered from his brief afterglow he got dressed as per usual, admiring himself as he put his crystal collar on.

He smoothed down his shirt and adjusted his trousers in the mirror, continuing to stare at himself. He watched as the smile faded from his face. Something seemed vaguely wrong with his reflection. He got a little closer to it, putting his hand against the surface, his nose almost touching it. He blinked, and his eyes were green. He blinked and his eyes were now blue. His head hurt.

He took a step back, closing and rubbing his eyes. Upon reopening them they were green again. He blinked a couple more times to make sure. He put it down to a trick of the light.

He waited in his room, calm again. Normally his mother would come to him in the morning to take him wherever she was going. Today however she was late - almost an hour late. He knew she wouldn't appreciate him waking her, so he was conflicted about going to check on her himself. He deliberated it for a moment, but eventually decided he had to make sure she was okay.

"Mother?" It was his voice. So adorable.

"S-Sun?" She looked up from her hands, where she had been hiding her face most of the night. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked terrible from a mixture of a lack of sleep and scratching at her face in agitation. Sun took a step back at the sight. He paused and then resumed moving to her side.

"Sun... oh, my precious little boy..." she hugged him and burst into tears again, wailing loudly as Sun patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Sun spoke into her ear, his breath tickling her cheek. He was holding her as if she may fall apart if he let go, and that made it hurt all the more.

"Sun, I did something I shouldn't have..." she let go and looked at his perfect face. He returned the stare, his eyes full of compassion and softness. "I'm sorry, Sun..."

Sun's expression shifted, now showing some confusion. "What did you do? Do you mean... when we-"

"Sun," she trembled, her voice high as she pulled him in again. "I'm so sorry I did that to you..."

"Mother, it's okay."

"No, no, it's not okay," she quaked. He wouldn't understand. "Sun, I just want you to be safe." She had done something terrible by taking him, and now she had done something even worse. "Sun, my sweet boy..."

"Mother, please," he muttered into her ear. "Listen to me." Lusamine broke down into more wracking sobs, even louder than before. Sun let her go. "Mother."

He stayed with her through her breakdown. She had no grasp on herself, nothing to cling to, just crying until she no longer could. The scene was dramatic, Sun crouched over her, her hunched form framed in his shadow, her hair, straggly and untamed falling in sheets to the plain white floor as she wailed. She kneeled there screaming to nothing, at everything. What was wrong with her? After a few minutes of this raw expression of pain, the agony in her soul finally began to relent. Lusamine still shuddered but was composed at last. Then she felt Sun touching her again. He had his arms around her stomach. Leaning his head against the back of her neck, like a lover she had long forgotten. He was whispering words of comfort to her that she didn't hear, only the soft, sweet tone of his voice, her sadness evaporating rapidly. She reached over her shoulder to pet him, and he did something quite unexpected that she was nowhere near prepared for.

He took one of the fingers that she had extended and slipped it into his mouth, sucking on it. Lusamine, her face invisible to Sun, opened her mouth in shock at the sensation. She wanted to shrug him off and scream at him for not at all grasping the situation, but she couldn't. Losing herself in the sensation of his little tongue running over the tip of her digit was too easy. Hearing him kiss it, the wet of his saliva sticking to her and the smoothness of his lips over it was too much. He _enjoyed_ it. He _loved_ it. What was wrong with him?

She withdrew it slowly, feeling a single strand of his spit still connecting him to her for a moment before it broke. "Sun," she murmured, turning to face him. He looked so, so calm, so proud, so utterly loving toward her.

 _"Mother."  
_  
They embraced one another. Sun and Lusamine both clung to the other in kind. Lusamine had control of herself again. They stood together, Lusamine with her hands on Sun's shoulders. "I- I need to get ready for the day, Sun. I may be a while."

"Okay," Sun said cheerfully. "I'll wait for you."

"Are you sure? You can go and see the Pokémon if you'd prefer. I can get Wicke to look after you and meet you there."

Sun didn't even blink. "No, I'll wait."

"Very well." She kissed him on the cheek. He beamed up at her and hesitated before leaving, pausing to look back at her. She was still beautiful, even with all of the stress of the night acting on her.

The moment he was gone, Lusamine tasted the middle finger of her right hand, the one he had sucked on. Her tongue tingled as she did so, but the sensation didn't last. She was left deep in thought as she withdrew it as slowly as she had from his lips.

Lusamine paced to the shower in a haze, stripping off and ignoring her reflection, knowing she'd only see the worst of herself. She knew she looked a state, and it was time to fix that. Her bathroom was ensuite - completely black in contrast to the white bedroom. It was just as sheer as anything else in the Foundation.

She switched the shower on and stood beneath the stream of hot water, leaning on the wall, emotionally exhausted. She thought back to when Sun had changed into what she had wanted him to be, what she wanted him to think, the first time he wore what she wanted him to - when he was her son at last - and wondered if he had thought about her in the shower, if he had maybe... maybe...

Arousal was kindling in her like a steady flame. Thinking about the taste of Sun's saliva. Thinking about the feeling of his fingers inside her. Thinking about making him taste her next time, letting him do more, showing him more, giving him more. The steady flame was already a roaring fire that she fought to contain, her hands reaching to touch herself.

Soon, she'd be fucking him on every surface in the mansion. On beds, on chairs, in the very shower she currently occupied, on her desk (still marked 'SUN' - she really needed to replace that), against the walls, all the doors wide fucking open for anyone to see. She had total control of this other human being, total mental, physical and even sexual control of him, and she'd show the whole fucking world that, that she was just that powerful enough to steal and claim him as hers without a trace. She owned him as wholly as she owned her own name and would wear him with as much pride. He was _hers, damn it,_ hers! She moved faster, muttering, "Mine, mine, mine..."

She was sliding down the shower wall, one hand on her thigh, the other pleasuring herself as she descended. She'd fuck him and make him beg for more. When Gladion and Lillie were back they could fucking watch her do it to him. Make no mistake, he was _hers_ , not Lillie's, not Gladion's.

Sun, in her grip, screaming for her to let him fuck her harder. Sun, kissing her all over. Sun, sun sun sun sun- again that white noise in her mind. Sun showing Gladion and Lillie just how to deal with the love she showed them - _reciprocate.  
_  
Now Lusamine was sitting, all her attention on fingerfucking herself. She drew sharp breaths, hissing as she did so, speaking to herself, imagining all the things she could do with Sun, the concerns she had as little as ten minutes ago vanished.

Oh how she'd fuck him - he'd scream - _"Oh, mommy, fuck me, fuck me hard as you damn please,"_ she said to herself. She gave a silent scream of release, and banged the back of her head against the shower wall viciously in a masochistic display of pleasure, ignoring the subsequent throbbing pain.

She closed her mouth and smiled, tasting that same finger that had been in Sun, then her. The water continued to run down her naked body, running off her chest, between her legs and down the drain, casting off all the guilt. Lusamine laughed.

* * *

Once fully dressed and prepared (hair styled, makeup on, carefully examined for any sign of any sort of wrongness to her appearance) Lusamine encountered some good news - Guzma's message.

 **'Got em.'**

She replied, imagining herself a queen, sitting in her throne and speaking down to some loyal servant.

 **'Bring them to me.'  
**  
"Sun?" She pushed the doors to her room wide open with gusto.

"Yes, mother?" He had been waiting for her as promised, curled up on the couch, another of his odd habits that were similar to the Pokémon he adored so much. Her heart swelled at the sight of him rushing to her side, and she took his hand, smiling down at him.

"Today, Sun, we'll be meeting your brother and sister. I'm sure it'll be a nice surprise for both of them." Sun nearly bounced up and down with excitement, squeezing her hand.

"I can't wait!"

"Neither can I, Sun. Neither can I."


	12. vanilla

The morning passed without further incident. Sun and Lusamine spent the day together around the Foundation. Lusamine felt so much more comfortable with Sun now: it was as if fucking him had told him that he was her property and she'd never let him go. He still wasn't fond of others being close to her, but he could tolerate it without wanting to be near her himself.

Now when she caught him staring, it was a purely admiring look rather than a possessive one. She wanted him again, wanted to enact her fantasies from earlier. However, Lillie and Gladion were on the way and that meant her time alone with him would be cut short. She just wanted a quick - a quick -

"Sun," she addressed him suddenly. She had been feeding some of the Water-type Pokémon while he stared into the water, waving to them as they swam up. He glanced at her. "Yes, mother?"

"Before your brother and sister arrive... would you like to go to the mansion, and maybe we'll spend some more... time together?" She made sure there was nobody within earshot before speaking the potentially incriminating words.

Sun didn't seem that eager, surprising Lusamine. "Um... maybe later, mother. I- I'm really excited to meet them," he explained. He blushed lightly and resumed looking at the Pokémon, hands behind his back awkwardly.

Lusamine wasn't even slightly upset by his refusal. She would still get plenty of pleasure and excitement from Sun meeting Lillie and Gladion for the 'first' time, how they'd see him bathed in her identity, how she'd forced a part of herself into him and had control of his every thought. How she was all he loved, like how they should love only her.

"Okay, Sun, we'll wait." Lillie and Gladion would be difficult to manage. She wanted to be alone with Sun but she couldn't leave them by themselves. And if she left them all together, Sun, Gladion and Lillie, those two would try to hurt Sun, make him ugly. That could not be allowed. "Sun," she drew his attention back to her, "please be careful around your brother and sister. They're both liars, and they're both dangerous. I tried to make them good, but they ran away from me, from you. You're my perfect boy for a reason, Sun."

Sun nodded vigorously. "I'll be careful."

Something told Lusamine he would still unconditionally love them like he did her, but she wasn't worried about that yet. "Sun... if they lie to you, I want you to tell me right away."

"Okay, mother." He hadn't stopped smiling since she announced they were meeting Lillie and Gladion, and she didn't think he would until they arrived. "Mother... do you think they'll like me?"

"I don't know, Sun," she said. "They're not perfect like you are."

"I think I'll like them."

A twisted idea crossed Lusamine's mind. "Sun, could you wait for us in the mansion when they arrive? I know, you want to see them as soon as possible, but if you wait I'm sure they'll be surprised to see you after all this time," she suggested to him. Sun didn't look sold on the idea.

"Um... maybe..." he said. He shuffled nervously. "I want to see them fast though, like you said. And - when did I last see them?" Maybe Lusamine could see about putting some very specific false memories into him to fill in blanks.

"Oh, when you were very small, Sun." Lusamine imagined what it may have been like to hold a baby Sun, watch him grow and become perfect. The black haired, dark skinned Sun was a faraway dream now, eroded from memory. Her 'Aether' Sun was his true form. Like a bug type. From larvae to chrysalis to a new, beautiful body. Larvae his first form, before she ensnared him in her soft, loving protection, lay him down and worked the magic of science on him to help him evolve. What others called her complexion - the light, almost pure white skin, the toxic green eyes, the shining blonde hair - was simply the next step of evolution. She wanted to believe Sun was always hers, born from her, grew from her.

She noticed in her thoughts she had gone on autopilot and started stroking his hair. He loved it when she did that, she could tell from his blush. He was so cute, in both behaviours and physical appearance. His odd little quirks of acting like Pokémon from time to time - never actually acting as if he was one, but more body language he had picked up from them - and his ability to seemingly change between a childish mindset and an adult one at will - were so sweet and interesting to watch.

He seemed so at ease beside her. And he had been willing to change, was the most beautiful part. He had the opportunity to escape and didn't take it. She stopped patting his head and put her arm around his shoulder instead. He allowed her to pull his body closer, playing with the transparent gold outer hem of her dress.

"Do you think they'll remember me?" Sun asked.

"Oh yes. But not everything they say will be truth. Just ask me if you have any doubt."

"Yes, mother."

Lusamine's phone began to ring, which meant it was at last time. Time for it to come full circle. For Lillie and Gladion to see Sun in all his glory.

"We're here, miss Prez."

"I'll be down to the dock in a few minutes. Tell them I'm on the way."

"Sure thing, miss Prez."

Lusamine tapped the screen then turned back to Sun. "Okay, Sun. Do you want to come with me to meet them or do you want to wait at the mansion?"  
"I'll wait at the mansion," he said decisively. "I'll give you some time together."

Lusamine cooed. "You're so sweet, Sun. I shouldn't be that long. You can make it to the mansion by yourself, yes?"

"Yes, mother." Sun was familiar with the Paradise by now, and it was specifically built to be easy to navigate. He gave her a quick hug and she leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. "See you later," he called cheerily as he went over to one of the elevators and pressed the button.

Lusamine did the same, but instead of descending to the ground floor, she went to floor D - the docks beneath the main platform. She recognised the ship Guzma always sailed in on instantly, and made a path toward it through the myriad crates and containers being delivered.

The three were waiting. Guzma, a brutish grin on his face, held Gladion and Lillie by the forearms. Lillie looked fine, but Gladion was covered in bruises and one of his eyes looked swollen. Not her problem. Lillie bowed her head at her mother's arrival, Gladion staring right at her.

"So. You two." Lusamine began, trying to sound incensed and failing miserably, coming out more as amused. She wanted to fast-forward life until they were introduced to Sun again.

"Us two," Gladion echoed. His tone of voice was bored.

"Shut it, kid," Guzma scowled. "Miss Prez?"

"Thank you, Guzma. You're a reliable ally." All she had to do was flatter Guzma using words he probably didn't understand and he'd remain under her control. "I'll see to your reward shortly."

"Heh. Always a pleasure, miss Prez." He smacked Lillie and Gladion on the back, pushing them toward her.

"Always." Guzma wouldn't leave until she had taken them away, naturally. She crouched down, to get to eye level with them.

"You two. You may not have Cosmog, or Null, or anything else I could use. But you're here again. And that's all that matters." She smiled widely. Gladion and Lillie both looked confused. "Come with me now, I have a surprise for you."

"I'm not going," Gladion growled. "I've had enough of being played with-"

"You don't even want to see?" Lusamine asked, still grinning. "Come now, Gladion. If you're not interested, I'll let you leave before the end of the day."

That took Gladion off guard. "What?"

"Yes. If you're not happy here, I will let you leave. Guzma, if you could wait here until the evening, I'd much appreciate it." Lusamine watched Guzma's reaction - first anger at being told what to do, then elation at the word 'appreciate.' Again, she wasn't sure if he actually understood it.

"Yeah, miss Prez, yeah, yeah." He climbed onto the black Team Skull boat. "I'll sit here, then."

"Now you two... interested?"

Neither nodded, but they both followed her when she moved.

* * *

The last few paces to opening the mansion doors were so very exciting. How would they act, how would Sun see them? It'd be interesting to observe. Placing her hand flat on the door she pushed it open, with Lillie and Gladion in tow, her new son waiting on the other side.

"Sun!?" Lillie had cried and rushed toward him. "You're okay!"

"Hi..." Sun greeted awkwardly. "I'm Sun... your brother..." his usual smile was gone, replaced with a weaker substitute. He was nervous.

"What?" Lillie asked. "What do you mean? What happened to you?"

Lusamine spoke for him. "This is Sun, your brother." Gladion was frozen in the doorway and Lillie had stopped a middle distance in front of Sun as if the horror of his metamorphosis had just hit her, as if she'd only just noticed that he wasn't quite Sun Elio in the way he had been.

"Our..." Gladion repeated. Now Sun was observing Lillie like she was an exhibit in a museum, circling her, glancing up and down.

"What do you mean he's our-" Lillie began, but stopped herself as Sun stepped in front of her again, up close. He was staring into her eyes, unblinking. She brought her arms to her chest in an automatic defensive reflex.

"Sun is your brother." Lusamine said simply.

"He's not-" Sun had moved past Lillie and was now staring at Gladion, who had spoken. "He's not our- Sun, you're not-"

Sun laughed. "Gladion, just because you don't recognise me doesn't mean I'm not your brother!" He gave Gladion a hug, still smiling. Gladion couldn't describe the emotion. It went miles above disgust, and was more than pity. He wanted to hug Sun back because it might still be Sun in his mind, but Gladion couldn't move. He looked down at the pure white of Sun's shirt and it chilled his blood to know that Sun had become a doll for Lusamine to dress the same way he and Lillie had been.

Lusamine was more than happy with how Sun had reacted. He liked them and they seemed reluctant to interact with him: this was for the best.

"You two must be hungry," Lusamine began. She'd force them to take in all of Sun's new shape, all of his new ways. "Why don't we all have something together?"

Lillie and Gladion reacted as she expected them to - the former with a look of fear, and the latter with a scowl. Sun however nodded, still smiling widely. "Yes, mother!"

"Sun..." Lillie squeaked quietly, tears in her eyes. He was alive, but he wasn't himself anymore... and that was worse. This was something different. If she was to see Sun again she would've wanted it to be the real Sun. She had wanted to go around all of Alola with him. Wanted to learn how to battle with him. He'd promised to teach her. Was he still even the same? "Sun," she said after a deep breath. "Are- are you-" she didn't know what to say. "Are you really Sun?"

"Yes," he said simply and Lusamine nodded.

"So," Gladion said, abrasive and offended by his mother's adoption of Sun, "if we look in the labs we're not going to see Sun frozen while this- this-" he gestured to Sun, who was poking at his hoodie "-joke prances around?!"

Sun paused. "Huh? Joke? I'm Sun, silly! And I've never been frozen either. Ice-types like me." He resumed playing with Gladion's hoodie, pulling the hood up over the other teen's head. Gladion brushed him off impatiently and pulled the hood back down.

"Gladion, don't be so rude," Lusamine scolded as Sun lost interest in the boy clad in black. Lusamine watched him jog back over to Lillie and hug her. He looked giddy with happiness. "Sun," she laughed, "please, calm down for a moment." Sun let Lillie go and put his hands behind his back in embarrassment at having been told off.

Gladion and Lillie were both looking at him in a sort of morbid fascination. They didn't say anything more, but Lusamine knew they got the message. Sun was hers now. She underlined it by waving him over to her, holding his hand and drawing him against her, both of them smiling at the siblings. "Welcome back, you two."

* * *

Lillie had moved back into her room. Gladion would be bunking with her, now that his room was Sun's. The siblings both sat at the bottom of Lillie's bed.

"I'm leaving," Gladion said. Lusamine's offer still stood. They could leave whenever. The reason she had made this offer was clear now - it'd weigh on them the rest of their lives if they decided to abandon Sun to her, and even worse, Sun didn't want them to leave. He adored them both. He'd been nothing but kind to them when they were eating together, and even Lusamine had been amicable.

"No, Gladion, you can't-"

"That's her plan," he hissed. "She wants us to stay. She wants us to see Sun as an example. I'm not staying. I can't."

"Gladion, we have to help him." Lillie knew there had to be a way. There must be. "Gladion, we owe it to him."

"Lillie, I-" Gladion's usual scowl slipped into an expression of defeat. He looked crushed. "Lillie, I can't do this." His voice was close to tears now. "Lillie, I- I've never wanted to come back here. I don't want to be here. I've- I can't do this."

Lillie held his hand. She'd never seen him so vulnerable. "Sun needs our help, Gladion."

"Who's going to help us?" Gladion replied simply, his voice hoarse.

Lillie didn't have an answer.

"I don't want her to dress me up. I don't want to wake up at seven in the morning and go to bed at eight like some kid. I don't want her to tell me I'm useless. I don't want to learn the life cycle of the _fucking_ -" he smashed his arm against the wall, making a loud thumping noise "-Pyukumuku, I don't want to find out about horrible experiments, I don't want to be her toy, I don't want to be any part of her life. Let Sun do it. He- he loves her, you've seen how he acts." They had. Sun positively fawned over their mother, and she was petting him every five minutes like he was a loyal Pokémon of hers. "He might not be the Sun we knew, but he's happy. We- should we really ruin that?"

Gladion's words made sense, but they also made Lillie angry. "You're giving up on him? It's our fault, Gladion. We owe him his life back now."

"I know it's our fault!" Gladion screamed. His worst fears hadn't come true, they'd been usurped by reality and the horror it was offering. Sun wasn't dead. It was far, far worse. "But I can't fucking do it, Lillie. I don't-"

"Fine. But I'm staying. You can go." She let go of his hand. She was furious. Gladion looked at her and saw a conviction that wasn't usually present. She had a stony expression and refused to look back at him.

"Lillie..." Gladion muttered. "I've spent my whole life afraid of-"

"Then go, Gladion. Go away. Go back to Kukui and Nebby and Null, or go back to Akala Island or go to Unova like you wanted to. Forget about Sun and forget about me. Why don't you just _go?!"_ Lillie was shouting now, her voice shaking. "Go and forget all of us and just- just relax on some beach in some region far away because you're _scared_. I'm scared, but I am not giving up on my best friend, not now and not ever!"

Gladion was left reeling from her verbal beatdown. "Lillie-"

"Shut up."

"You really are your mother's daughter," Gladion shot back. It was incredibly harsh.

Lillie acted as if he just slapped her. "Because I'm not a coward?! And because I can see that you're being one?! I'm not trying to guilt you-"

"-yes you are-"

"-I'm telling you, if you don't care, LEAVE!"

They sat in silence. Both of them regretted the things they said.

"I'll stay." Gladion said. "I'll stay."

"Good."

He'd never expected this from Lillie. But she was right. They had to try.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."


	13. tumbled into a grave

The two had yet to form any sort of plan.

"Gladion, how do we get him back?" Lillie asked.

"You don't."

The voice was their mother. She had just appeared in the doorway. The way she stood beneath the soft gold light cast a greenish glow onto the surrounding doorframe, refracting from the crystal on her chest. Lusamine's heel clicked as she took a step forward. "This is our new family." She gestured to the siblings. "All of us. You, me, Sun." The light moved with her, like a warning. It may have been green, but it was far from positive. "If you can't accept that, then you're the problem. You're the vermin."

"Mother, you're not right," Lillie scowled. "Sun was his own person, his own-"

"He was nothing but what I chose to make him." Her gesture towards them was now an arm held outward theatrically, as if encompassing the world. "I have set him free."

"Mother, you-"

"Do not call me 'mother', you insect!" She was continuing to pace the room, which seemed to be closing around them. There wasn't enough space. Lillie remained defiant in the face of her mother's words.

"I don't care what you do to me! I'm going to help Sun-"

 **"SILENCE!"** Lusamine demanded. The shout echoed through the room and down the corridor. "You were imperfect. I deserve what I want. I want Sun, and I do not want _you!"  
_  
"Then why did you bring us back, mother?!"

"To make a _point_. You can go. You can stay. So long as you don't interfere with my son, you can do what you please. I did this to show you what you could have had. My love." A look of bliss crossed her. "I love him with all my being. You however..." the look vanished as fast as it appeared. "You have yet to earn it."

"How can we?" Lillie asked. She was willing to do anything, much as Sun had before her, to manipulate the situation, escape. Sun had pretended to return her affection. Lillie may have to do the same to set Sun free.

Lusamine's shock at Lillie's question was evident. "What's this?" Her tone had dry amusement running through it. "Are you willing to change, Lillie?" She leaned down in front of her daughter. Lillie didn't move. "Well?"

"Yes, mother." Lillie met the state evenly. Lusamine didn't say anything, searching Lillie's soul. Her green eyes darted back and forth, scanning, prying.

"Is that so?" Lusamine questioned.

"Yes, mother. I want to be as perfect as Sun. As you." Gladion hadn't said anything but Lillie's words were not gelling with him. He wasn't about to pretend anything. If he was going to resist, he was going to resist, damn it.

"Oh, Lillie..." Lusamine spoke as if in slow motion. "Then you have a lot to learn. And how about you, Gladion? Will you follow Sun's example?"

Gladion shook his head. "Like hell."

Lusamine smirked. "Always so stubborn. Leave then." Lillie and Gladion both recognised that she had echoed Lillie's words earlier. Perhaps Gladion was right to compare them.

"No. I have to help him." Gladion said.

"Did you not understand?!" Lusamine grabbed Gladion by the scruff of his hoodie, dragging him to his feet. "He is beyond your 'help!' What you call 'help', is simply undoing his happiness!" Gladion struggled in her hold, but she kept a firm grip on him. "You are pathetic." She tossed him away, with enough force to make him fall flat onto his backside. She cast a foreboding shadow over him.

"Mother... how did you change Sun?" Lillie asked, distracting Lusamine's attention.

"With a lot of hard work. Work that, in the end, was worth it. You still have promise yet, Lillie. Maybe I'll do the same to you." Lusamine loomed over them both, Gladion still on the ground. "I'll be back later to bid you both goodnight... that is if dear Gladion hasn't left by then. And Lillie... maybe you can learn something from Sun. How to make your mother happy."

The implication of what she had said hung in the air. She must have broken Sun utterly and completely to have molested him the same way she had molested them in their youth. Lillie's expressionless mask flickered with horror, and Lusamine was satisfied to see the reaction to the statement.

She left, her dress flowing behind her elegantly with the speed at which she moved. They heard her go to Sun's room, speak to Sun, and her voice was so shockingly gentle and kind to him it was as if their mother, who had made their whole lives terror, was a model parent.

"Are you feeling well?"

They didn't hear his reply.

"Hm. What do you think?"

Pause. Sun's reply.

"Your brother and sister."

Pause. Lusamine was only speaking so loudly so that Lillie and Gladion could her her disdain for them.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Pause. Gladion dropped his head, hanging it, staring into his lap, angry. Life had dealt them the worst possible hand. Ignored, afraid, hated. Lillie was focused on listening.

"No, Sun. No."

Pause.

"Not today, Sun. I'm still very tired from last time."

That could mean many things, but Lillie and Gladion were both drawn to the same conclusion. Sun was initiating the lovemaking, not Lusamine. He was as good as gone, dead, replaced by this slave in his body. The siblings both felt the shackles of defeat, utter, crushing hopelessness, clicked onto them. Inescapable. Sun was gone. They were next.

"See you later, Sun."

Pause.

"I love you too."

Like a harpoon through the heart, it hurt. It hurt so badly. The rejection of their mother followed by her acceptance of a child who wasn't even her own. A child who never wanted to be hers, who was now doomed to grow under her tyranny. Someone who once had what it took to beat her.

They were helpless. Sun was lost. All was dust.

* * *

Sun was sat on the middle of his bed, wrapped in his bedsheets like a Swadloon. He felt so comfy. His mother had just visited. He loved her so much, just like how she loved him. She had asked about his brother and sister - what he thought of them and how they were around him. He was just happy to meet them.

He wanted to be with her alone again, but he knew he'd have to share now. He didn't want to, but he knew that his mother would want to show all three of them equal amounts of love, and he wasn't going to stop her, oh no.

The door creaked and he twisted, his duvet cocoon shifting with him. His sister had just come in. "Hey, Sun," she greeted. "I wanted to talk to you. Is that okay?"

Sun nodded. Lillie was smiling. When she had entered it had been a purely false smile to get him to feel comfortable with her, but upon seeing him wrapped up in the white duvet it became genuine. Sun would absolutely do something like that if he saw it as practical for some goal, such as warmth or comfort.

"How are you feeling?" Lillie asked innocently. She kept the directive in the back of her head - just scout the damage that had been done to Sun. If Lusamine was somehow listening, Lillie would have to be careful with exactly what she mentioned.

"I'm okay," Sun said nonchalantly. "What about you?" She sat on the bed beside him, delicately.

"I'm- I'm okay," she replied. "Um... how have you been while we were away?"

"I've been fine! Mother didn't tell me a lot about you," Sun admitted. "But I like you!" He shuffled up beside her and threw off the duvet. Lillie didn't look at him. He paused. "Lillie?"

"Why didn't mother tell you about us?" Lillie took Sun's now pale hand. It was quite familiar - whenever Sun had wanted to rush off to the next Route on their journey across Alola, he'd taken her hand and run at a sprint she could barely keep up with.

"She said... she said you weren't trustworthy," Sun admitted. "But -" he said quickly, "-but, but I like you!" he repeated. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I think you're great!"

Lillie wasn't at all hurt by Lusamine's comments regarding her. She just smiled at Sun. "Thank you, Sun."

"What did you do before you left that made mother so mad?" Sun asked. Lillie took a deep breath.

"I think it's best to not tell you. Let mother tell you," Lillie sighed. She clung to Sun's hand still.

"What do you think about mother?" Sun asked. "Isn't she perfect?" He seemed most excited to discuss Lusamine, reminding Lillie that he was effectively hers in body, mind and soul now.

"Um... she's never been too kind to me or Gladion." Understatement of the century. "But I'm glad she's treated you well."

"What did she do to you?"

Lillie wasn't ready to answer, so she pushed the question away. "Not now."

"Are you okay?" Sun's question was hesitant. He was leaning against her now: he'd never had much of any sense of personal space. It was never malevolent though - he always stuck to Lillie for his comfort, rather than any sort of romantic feeling. Whenever his usually unshakeable conviction regarding battle was challenged, he'd need a rock to balance himself on, and Lillie or Hau were usually the ones that he requested to be by his side.

He didn't think like how they did. He was very different. While training Pokémon he was laid back and fun loving, rolling around with them as he taught them moves and told them that they were the best friends he could hope for. While battling he was an adult far beyond his years. The smile vanished. He didn't blink. He was in a zone that could not be broken.

There were stories of children, young prodigies who went beyond and destroyed whatever system was in place to challenge them. Sun was becoming one.

And when he was gone, off to Po Town to face Team Skull... that was the end of it. Lillie had been abducted by the Aether Foundation, and Gladion had put aside any grudges he had held toward Sun. Gladion, Sun and Hau had stormed the Paradise, fought their way to Lusamine's trophy room and Sun himself had saved Nebby before the Cosmog opened the gateway to Ultra Space.

Disaster struck. Lusamine had lost it. Gladion, Hau and Lillie had the good sense to run for the hills. But Sun didn't think how they did. He had gone to battle her.  
The last thing she was interested in was battling with Pokémon.

It was the last time Lillie had ever seen Sun as he was, smacked across the face, reeling back, his eyes meeting hers as she escaped the room. She didn't want to leave him. Gladion had dragged her away. He may have said something. She wouldn't know.

She could recall the moment in photographic detail. The cool air cascading off of the frozen Pokémon beneath the Paradise. The too bright room and how it made her giddy. Sun reaching for a Poké Ball as Lusamine marched toward him, enraged. The sound of contact as she knocked Sun down.

Lillie blinked away the stark, burning images. She realised she was crying. "I'm okay," she whispered to Sun, her voice barely audible. "I'm okay."

"But Lillie-" She was startled by the feeling of him letting go of her hand and moving it to her thigh, just below the hem of her dress, "you're crying." That kind of physical contact was very unusual for Sun. He'd never done anything even close to sexual, and this was just over the line she was comfortable with. Lillie worried that Lusamine had affected his boundaries. He clearly didn't understand that the contact could be wrong - he was only concerned with her emotion.

"Sun-" she moved his hand away, knocking it off. "I'm fine." She held her breath, and the crying stopped. Sun pulled the duvet back around him defensively. Lillie somehow felt guilty. "It's just... I didn't expect you to be like this when we met again." It played into Lusamine's story and her own.

"Like what?" he asked.

Lillie couldn't answer. She took Sun by the shoulder, casting off the thick blanket, and kissed him on the cheek. Sun blushed. "I'll... I'll talk to you later." Lillie left him there, in a world of confused and blurred emotion.

She was ashamed of herself. He wasn't Sun anymore, he was someone else. He was her brother, not her best friend. And Lusamine's plan may be deeper than it first seemed, because Lillie felt like she was losing herself too.


	14. Whipping boy

Later on, Lusamine had bid them all goodnight. She had gently rebuffed Sun's innocent request for 'more', saying she shouldn't while Lillie and Gladion were around. Then Sun had suggested they join in.

Lusamine was taken by the idea, but stuck to her instinct, which was to wait on it. Starve Sun, just a little, just enough to where he might just beg in front of his brother and sister. And she wanted him.

She wanted to lay her perfect boy down in silk sheets, tie his hands above his head and kiss his neck, his chest, the inside of his thighs just to hear him breathe requests for more. It wasn't something to be shared with the other two, how much of him belonged to her. His entirety. Every inch of him, every aspect, was something she owned.

Lillie had shown something of promise. Maybe she'd let Lillie watch. But Lillie couldn't have him, no, his body was hers. Lusamine had to find the right time to take him again.

* * *

The next morning was not the opportunity. The family sat around the table in the main room, eating breakfast delivered from the Foundation kitchens. There was an awkward silence.

Sun had a wide smile, Lusamine and Lillie's expressions were neutral and Gladion had his customary scowl. Sun spoke through the choking quiet.

"What are we doing today, mother?"

Gladion flinched at Sun calling Lusamine 'mother.' Lusamine noticed, and made a mental note to scold her biological son for it later. "I'm going to be busy today, Sun. So you can do as you please."

"Mother-" he began but silenced himself. He turned a light shade of red, and Lusamine knew the reasoning behind him doing so. Lillie spoke up next.

"Mother, before you go to work, may I speak to you?" Gladion glanced at her, one eyebrow arched, the other lowered in a nearly comical expression. Lillie met her mother's attentive gaze evenly.

"Yes, Lillie, you may." Lillie nodded in appreciation.

"Thank you, mother."

Sun seemed a little confused by her request too, but didn't comment. He continued to munch on his toast, louder than Lusamine may have usually allowed. Everyone was staring at him, and he remained unaware of the attention he was drawing.

* * *

"Mother, you're using Sun wrong."

"What?" Lusamine hissed. "You don't-"

"I know him better than you and I know you're wasting him. He might seem stupid but he's not. If you just ask him to do something regarding Pokémon, give him a problem, he'll solve it." Lillie was determined to let Sun shine as more than just her mother's toy.

"It took me years of research to find a way to Ultra Space. Are you suggesting that he can do better?" Lusamine wasn't interested in using Sun as anything more than her pet. He may be smart, but intelligence was a burden on her. What if he worked out that he wasn't her son?

"I didn't mention Ultra Space but- but- I'm pretty sure he could." Lillie said it without a moment of pause. She was confident in Sun's ability. She didn't know why she was taunting Lusamine into potentially causing the doom they'd tried so hard to avert, feeling something stirring at the idea of Ultra Space being opened again. She put it down to fear.

Lusamine smirked. "I see you think very highly of him."

"Just try it." Lillie challenged her. "See what he can do."

"Why are you so adamant about this?" Lusamine had to admit, her curiosity was piqued at Lillie's comments.

"I don't want him to go to waste." Lillie had Sun's best interests in mind. Giving him more things to do besides obsess over Lusamine could only be good for him.

Lusamine looked for a trick, some sort of hidden _'gotcha'_ Lillie could pull as a result of letting Sun work with the Foundation - but found none. She still wasn't convinced by Lillie's words though. There had to be some kind of twist Lillie was manipulating her into making possible.

"I'll see. For now though, he can do what he wants." Lusamine didn't sound aggravated or disdainful, merely brushing aside Lillie's comments. "Now, I have business to attend to." Lusamine retreated into her office, and Lillie didn't follow. Instead, she headed to Sun's room. If her mother wouldn't help nurture Sun's potential - if it still existed - she would.

Sun was fast asleep. They'd just woken up an hour ago for breakfast, and he was already napping. It wasn't like Sun to sleep during the day. Lillie didn't want to wake him. She flashed back to a similar time on their journey.

Sun was part way through the Water-type trial on Akala island, and there was a fierce tropical storm pounding down on Brooklet Hill. Sun, Lillie and Hau had pitched the tent they shared, but the cold was biting even through the canvas surface. Hau and Sun went outside into the storm to throw their large waterproof coats over the tent, making it that little bit warmer, but there was still a strong chill.

They'd bundled up in sleeping bags, all still fully dressed - but they still shivered. Sun had said something about how Piplup gathered together for refuge from the cold. So they moved all the sleeping bags together and shared their body heat, and things became... pleasant. With Sun and Hau on either side of her, Lillie could feel at peace.

She had closed her eyes, listened to the raging storm, the rough tent around them a new home. The patterns of the rain. The beauty of storms in Alola. It was a wonderful memory.

She was unconsciously reaching out to touch Sun. Catching herself doing it, Lillie brought her outstretched arm back to her side. She crossed to the side of the bed with more space, took her shoes off and climbed in beside him, pretending he was still himself. He was still somehow perfect to her. If she could just have the old Sun back to tell him how much she liked him... she'd do anything for it. She carefully pulled the covers over herself as well as him, avoiding waking him, and fell asleep beside her new brother.

Sun. Sun, Sun, Sun... it repeated in her head over and over.

* * *

Gladion had a much shorter solution. They could fix Sun when they got off the Aether Paradise. He already knew exactly how to escape, as he already knew how to captain one of the Paradise's cargo ships - albeit dangerously, and badly. He just needed to find the willpower to do it.

He had been raped by his mother too many times, beaten down, told he was worthless. To have Sun usurp his position as her son was salt in the many, many wounds he had sustained. But Sun had given up everything to save Lillie. He owed Sun.

Gladion focused all of his rage at everything that had ever happened to him and concentrated it into a point. It was time to use that point.

He stormed into Sun's room. He'd get Sun, then Lillie, then they'd make it off the Paradise together. Gladion saw Sun and Lillie side by side, fast asleep. Had she fucked him? The word _'whore'_ came into his mind wholly unbidden and he chased it out.

"What are you two doing?" Gladion didn't shout, but said it with enough sour bite to wake them both.

"Huh?" Sun asked as he sat up. "What do you-" he noticed Lillie by his side. She blushed horribly and hid her face. "Lillie?"

"I- I just wanted to be with you."

That made Gladion soften up a little. Lillie wasn't the kind of person to take advantage of Sun in the state he was in. He should have known that. Sun smiled and moved over to be closer to her, and would have likely done something highly inappropriate for siblings to do if Gladion hadn't spoken.

"Lillie. We're leaving."

Sun's response was an incredulous 'Huh?', while Lillie's was sitting up straight on the bed.

"Now?" Lillie asked. "What, you're- you're ready?"

"Yeah. Let's get him out of here." Gladion seemed unshakeable.

"You're sure we should just take him away?" Lillie asked. Sun sat up beside her.

"Are you talking about me?" he asked, once again not realising the gravity of the situation.

"Yeah. We're going to help you, Sun." Gladion covered his face with his hand. It was a habit he had picked up trying to protect himself from his mother that had since become muscle memory when stressed or emotional.

"I don't want to leave." Sun's voice was very slightly confrontational. "I want to stay here."

"Sun, if you stay here," Lillie said, taking his shoulder, "we will get hurt. All of us." Sun faced his sister, saw her concern.

"Who's going to hurt us?" Sun asked. He looked very apprehensive, reluctant.

"Our mother," Gladion growled. "She is not going to think of you as her perfect son forever. She will have her fun with you for a year or two, then you'll be the same as us. Just damn... _toys_ , for her amusement," he spat the word 'toys' like a curse.

"But she said she'll never hurt me." Sun was shrinking away from Gladion. "I don't want to leave her. I can't." He fingered the emerald collar he was wearing absentmindedly. "Don't take me away."

"Lillie. We need to go now." Gladion ignored Sun.

"We should at least explain to him-" Lillie began, but Sun had vaulted over her, fallen off the bed comically, and scrambled as far away from Gladion as he could.

"I won't go. I won't! Don't take me!" Sun shouted at them. Lillie shot an angry glare at Gladion and tried to comfort Sun.

"It's alright, Sun. Calm down. Calm-"

"- Don't - don't take me away! I can't go!" Sun was recessed into a corner, kicking himself away from the two. "Please don't!"

Gladion marched over to Sun and tried to grab his wrist. Sun retaliated. Lillie shrieked in terror as Sun moved aside from Gladion's attempt and shoved Gladion up against the wall, keeping Gladion's arms pinned to it.

"Sun!" Lillie cried. "Sun, Sun-" she tried to pull them apart but Sun kept Gladion held where he was. Gladion struggled free and gave Sun a push away from him.

"You- don't-" Gladion scowled, "you don't understand what's going on!" He pushed Sun again, Sun's flight response now overriding the fight one. Sun backed up automatically, trying to hide away from Gladion. He crouched, covering his face with his elbows.

"Leave me alone!" Sun shouted.

Lillie seized Gladion around the waist and dragged him away from Sun. "What are you _doing?!_ " She let go of him, getting between her adopted brother and biological one. "Sun," she said softly, "We're sorry we scared you. We're going to leave now."

"Lillie-" Sun pleaded. "I don't want to go. Please don't take me. _Please_." The last word was dread, fear, terror. "Please."

"Don't worry, Sun. We won't." She glanced back at Gladion. He looked furious. "Come on, Gladion." Lillie tried to drag Gladion away.

Gladion continued to stare down Sun. "You're- you're deranged," he told Sun. Sun stayed curled up, hiding from his brother. "You're not who I thought you were."  
Lillie exerted even more effort to get Gladion out quickly. The moment they were away from Sun and back in their room, Lillie let him have it.

"What is _wrong_ with you?!"

"He's not worth saving if all he wants is to-"

"Gladion, what is _wrong_ with you?! There is no chance that he will ever want to come with us if you treat him like that," Lillie hissed. "I mean, what is- what is wrong with you?!"

"I get it," Gladion grunted. "I fucking get it. I- he's not Sun anymore. He's just some fucking slave who's wearing his face."

"Are you going to help him or are you just going to attack him?!"

"I am not going to stand by and hear someone I once respected speaking in his voice with his face about our mother positively!" Gladion argued. His face was lined with rage. Lillie was equally angry.

"That's why we're helping-" Lillie was cut off as the door opened. Sun leaned in. "Sun?" she asked, all of the rage dissipating into pity and sadness upon seeing him.

Sun pointed at them. He didn't say anything for a moment, and they wondered if he was going to speak. Then their mother stepped out from the other side of the doorframe, her eyes alight with searing vexation.

Lillie's stomach dropped about a mile, and Gladion's eyes widened. They sat completely still as Lusamine spoke. "What did you do?"


	15. Through the arch

Lillie was lying on her side and there was a ringing in her ears. How had she fallen? What had happened? There had been nothing that could have hit her, her mother hadn't been close enough to strike her, surely.

Lusamine's heel came down in front of her, black as night. Lillie looked through the arch, the green underside of the shoe framing Sun as he stood in the doorway, flinching in sympathy. The image only lasted for one second and then Lusamine moved, stepping over her. Lillie felt the pain. It bit.

Gladion said something but Lillie couldn't hear what with one ear pressed to the ground and both of them whistling loudly. Lillie heard the smack though - two - _three_ \- _four._

Gladion was whimpering now, and even more sounds of impact rang out. Lillie could still see Sun flinching. He said something. The sounds stopped. His mouth moved again.  
Lusamine replied. Sun spoke. Silence. Gladion groaned, and there was a sound of something making contact with something else - much softer than before.

The ringing finally whined itself out of pitch. Lillie could hear her mother's footsteps back across the room, toward Sun. Sun looked scared of her now. He leaned away at her approach, and that alone seemed to cause all the aggression to bleed out of her mother.

Lusamine kissed him on the cheek, holding his hands in hers after some coaxing. "Thank you for telling me about these two, Sun." Sun nodded, but he looked terrified. His bottom lip quivered in fear. "Sun, they're not like you or me. Don't feel sorry for them. Simply hope they learn from their mistake."

Sun didn't respond to her. He was looking at Lillie, and Lillie was staring back. It wasn't Sun's fault. It wasn't. "Lillie?" he asked, his voice breaking. It was still Sun's voice. He said it the way he would have if he cared for her still. "Are you... are you-"

Lusamine cut him off. "Let her hurt, Sun. You shouldn't care about them."

Sun obeyed reluctantly. He tore his gaze away from Lillie. Lillie shut her eyes, slowly, slowly.

* * *

Sun had been scared for the remainder of the day. He didn't know who to trust. He loved his mother, but Lillie and Gladion were right when they said they'd get hurt if they stayed. But his mother hadn't hurt him. He'd buried himself in his bed again, where he was most comfortable. He didn't want to see the Pokémon without his mother watching over him, and he didn't want to go outside at all anyway. He was afraid.

Lillie and Gladion hadn't come back in. He wanted to see if they were hurt, but he couldn't - mother had told him not to. He was so conflicted he took the sheets as well as his pillow and hid underneath the bed. It was comfy and dark down there, even if the floor was very hard and stiff against him.

He didn't have anything to keep him company except his own thoughts. He wanted to do something more, something useful, but he didn't know exactly what that could be. Maybe if he had his own data pad he could learn more about the Pokémon around the Paradise. Maybe if he had some paper he could write his ideas on how best to preserve them. But he didn't have much.

Sun started to become very slightly suspicious. Why hadn't his mother... given him anything? Where had he come from? Did he just forget all of his early life? Lillie and Gladion were definitely his brother and sister. He was definitely Lusamine's son. But... there was something wrong, wasn't there?

He couldn't tell what. Thinking was difficult - it felt like his brain was blocked when he tried to tell it things. Thankfully he was pulled out of thinking when the door opened again.

The sound of clicking. He knew what it meant - his mother, in her heels, walking on the tough, white floor. He watched them move, remaining hidden beneath the bed. Sheer black, angular. Two diamond shapes on each one, encapsulating her feet, the heel itself sharp looking. Carefully balanced.

"Sun?" There was a tremble in her voice. She thought he had ran.

"I'm down here, mother," Sun called.

She faced the bed, the points of her heels toward him. He held his breath as she crouched, one knee coming down closer to him than the other. She was kneeling in such a position that she could see Sun, but Sun could only see her mouth. Her lips.

"Sun... I'm sorry." She slid her hand beneath the bed and he hesitantly lay his over hers. Her faint smile was all he could see. "Sun, would you like to come on out of there?"  
Sun withdrew his hand from hers and brought his legs closer to his body, shaking his head. "No." He watched her mouth move, transitioning between many shapes. Her actual expression was unknown to him without sight of her eyes.

"Are you scared of me?" Lusamine asked. She kept her hand beneath the bed.

"Um... I think so," Sun said. He cautiously touched her waiting fingers again. "But... no. I'm not scared."

"But you won't come out from under the bed." Lusamine's patience was actually quite a long stretch of time. Sun was hardly testing it thus far. "Would you like me to come under there with you?"

Sun thought. "Um, I don't know if there's enough room," he responded.

"Shouldn't be a problem, Sun." She moved to lie on her side and slide in beside him.

"No-" he exclaimed, and Lusamine hesitated. His fingers twitched against hers.

"Please," Lusamine begged. "Trust me, Sun." She couldn't lose his love. She had to hold onto him.

"They said you'd hurt them." His face, half hidden in darkness, was plaintive. "They were right."

Lusamine turned away, looking for something to say. Sun saw her mouth open, heard her inhale, then watched as she closed her mouth again. She took her hand away. "Just come out from under there, please."

"It's comfy." Sun snuggled deeper into the duvet. "Can I stay?"

"Fine, Sun." It seemed as if she was about to leave. She shifted as if about to get up from kneeling. "You're my..." she began, but stopped. Sun felt drained suddenly. He wanted to hear her say the words he was used to again. He reached out his hand further, but Lusamine ignored it.

She stood.

"Wait-" Sun asked. "Wait... um... I'll come out if you want me to." Lusamine adored the dependence in his voice, the obedience, how easy it was to manipulate him right back to wanting to be with her. She was _this_ close to having him again. She'd fuck him before the day was over. It was so fucking simple, the ability to turn him into a tool for her pleasure a fantastic result of all her procedures.

"No. You stay if you want to. I'd better go."

"Mother-" he called.

Lusamine started to walk away.

"Mother!" Sun repeated, louder. "Um... you can stay..."

"No, Sun. You're scared. I understand. I'm very sorry." She turned the door handle, Sun hearing the click. He said nothing. Maybe he was harder to control than she had first considered. "I... I won't come in tonight." That ought to give him a little more to protest against.

"No, mother, I'm okay, I am-" Sun poked his head out from under the bed at last. Lusamine was hit by a strong pang of something she may have called conscience. Why had she done what she'd done? Purely to torture Lillie and Gladion? To see if the methods used to change Sun would work? To acquire the ultimate trophy?

She paused, her hand gripping the handle. "Would you like me to stay?"

"Yes, yes, mother," Sun said in a bit of a fever. "Yes."

Lusamine now moved in a very specific way, back to the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of where Sun lay. "You're a good boy, Sun. Not like them. They want to run." Sun wasn't paying attention to what she said anymore. The angle Lusamine had sat at gave him a view straight up her dress. "Sun?"

"Y-yes, mother. I'm good." Lusamine was also invisible to him - once again her face was partly hidden - Sun could only see her smirk. "I'll be good."

"That's my perfect boy." She put her hands on her hips. "I can trust you, Sun." Sun's attention was briefly taken away from her presenting herself to focus on her hands closing over her waist. She was wearing her usual leggings, but the obvious implication of how she was allowing him to stare was clear.

"Yes, mother. You can. If - if you hurt them, they deserve it." His head was on autopilot. All his concern over Lillie and Gladion's beatings were exhausted. He only wanted to be lifted into her arms and be against her warm skin, held in her embrace, smell her hair...

"You're right, Sun. Of _course_ you are." She smoothed down her dress, bringing more attention to herself. "You're absolutely right. It's why you're my favorite. You know. They don't."

Sun was hypnotised. Lusamine was cast in the light from the single window, accentuating the shape of her legs and her hourglass waist. It brought her infinite pleasure to see the child that may well have been her undoing so enthralled by her beauty. That was why she had done it. A foe had become a friend. More than a friend, a son.

He was edging his hand back toward her. He wanted contact and she firmly denied him, keeping her hands on her hips.

"Mother... you can come under if you want."

"I'm fine here, Sun." She continued smiling blithely, ignoring his agitation at her apparent lack of understanding. She understood. He was being completely overridden by the lust they had programmed into him. He had no choice now. If she asked, he would do.

"I'll come out-"

"-No, Sun. You stay right there."

"But... yes, mother." He still moved, so that he was now facing her head on. Playing right into her plan. Now she took her hands off her hips, reaching them under the bed, where Sun took them. It was an inversion of the stereotype. The monster found the little boy under the bed. Lusamine felt the familiar presence gnaw at her mindfulness. The other side of herself. She dropped the smile, focusing on not being taken over.

She pulled Sun toward her, not aggressive, more caring. He didn't resist, still staring up her dress until reaching a certain point, at which he finally met her eyes and saw the hunger. The green lasers cutting into him, saying, _'I know you were looking. I know what you want.'  
_  
"Interested?" Lusamine asked softly.

Sun's expression of embarrassment at being so easily seen through changed. He had a tiny smirk. So cute. "Yes, mother."

"Then fucking eat me." She pushed down on his head as his smirk split into a wide smile, forcing him between her legs. He accepted it readily, and had started to lick before she could even pull her leggings down.


	16. A Very Special Son

"Oh... oh, Sun, oh, sweet Sun..."

Lusamine was gasping. She had been sat before Sun, legs bare, for ten minutes now - he was holding her thighs eagerly and licking her clit thoroughly. She held his head in place still, more as a guide than for any motivational purpose: Sun was perfectly satisfied lapping away at her sex, and she hardly would've been able to hold onto him anyway with the waves of pleasure that wracked her body, both physical and mental.

She pressed her thighs together slowly, closing them and trapping his head between them, squeezing then releasing him. It felt so good. Sun diligently continued his work. She repeated the motion rhythmically, trapping him between her legs and letting go periodically. He didn't even seem to notice, too engrossed in fucking her with his tongue.

The monster was sated, silent, while Lusamine basked in the feeling of Sun eating her out. It wasn't nagging, it knew Lusamine had control here and wasn't going to challenge that. She had made plenty of efforts to contain it and block it out of her system, but nothing would. Perhaps Sun was the key - she'd been able to master that violent, incendiary animal that craved the darkest of desires only when fucking him.

Once again the old obsession she had held with the Ultra Beasts paled in comparison to whatever this was. This was something else, an ongoing project to see what she could construct from the scattered pieces of Sun, his personality, his memories and his physical body. This wasn't a near impossible effort to drag through extra dimensional life forms. This was a puzzle where all the pieces were in her hand and she just had to sort them into the right shape and she'd have the most beautiful, the most gorgeous and above all the most generous tool she has ever owned.

She'd eliminated all forms of connection to Sun's last life. There was no way he could recover, no way. Guzma had 'beaten down' Sun's biological mother at her request, and Hau, the only witness to the mess besides Lillie, Gladion and Guzma, was dead too. Sun's memories were scorched out of his brain, and his appearance had changed significantly. Only Wicke and Faba had any idea who he really was before. Faba could be trusted with the information and Wicke's kindly nature left her in a position where she couldn't do anything but help Sun in his current state.

And the reward was worth all the effort. The thoughts had caused her mind to idly drift away from the pleasure Sun provided. It must have been bizarre- her legs spread under the bed, crying out to herself, Sun nearly invisible as her dress rested over his head and shoulders. The material was tickling the back of his neck as he moved.

After another five minutes of encouragement and moans from Lusamine, she was quite satisfied. The hand she had used to support herself moved off of the plain white tiles and onto Sun's cheek as she sat up straight, sliding the hand that was already atop his head to the other cheek. She raised him up from below her dress, pulling him into her lap a little awkwardly. His legs still trailed under the bed.

"Did you like that?" Sun asked. His eyes were round and full of hope that her answer would be positive.

"Yes, Sun. Your mother liked that very much." Sun smiled and leaned against her. "Very, very much."

"Good," Sun mumbled. "I- I was worried that... that Lillie and Gladion were going to come between us..." he admitted to her, still speaking to her chest.

Lusamine smiled, knowing the other two could never hope to amount to Sun. She kissed Sun on the lips, and he returned her affection almost immediately. She could taste herself. "I trust you."

"Thank you, mother," Sun said, almost choking on the emotion in his voice. "Thank-"

He was cut off as Lusamine leaned back, lying down with Sun on top of her. Sun laughed at the feeling of falling it simulated while still being kept safe in her arms.

"Sun," Lusamine said, thinking back to Lillie's suggestion of making more use of him than she currently was. "Would you like to work with me some time?"

"Huh? You mean with the Pokémon?"

"Yes, Sun." Sun moved up her, his hands and knees on either side. "I'm sure you could help."

"Yes!" Sun replied enthusiastically. "I want to help you with the Pokémon!"

"Good boy," Lusamine approved. She took Sun by the waist. "Get up, now." She encouraged him to move to one side, which he duly did, getting off of her. She sat up behind him, retrieving her underclothes and leggings to pull back up. She felt Sun's eyes lingering on her, and loved it.

Standing beside Sun she saw she saw her face was very slightly red in the mirror. It didn't suit her. She glanced at Sun, seeing he was also looking into the mirror.

His expression wasn't right. He looked confused. "Is something wrong, Sun?"

"Um... um... why..." he was pointing at himself now. "Um... I don't normally look like... this... what happened to me?"

Lusamine knew immediately. She moved in front of the mirror. "Nothing happened, Sun: you've always been this way, always."

"But... Lusa... m- you're _not_ my mother, are you?"

Lusamine's expression darkened significantly. She frowned at Sun. "Sun, you're mine."

"Um..." Sun began, trying to decipher truth from lie. Something had happened. He'd recollected a shard of himself. Then just like that it seemed to break. "Mother!" He exclaimed the word as if seeing her for the first time.

"Sun," she said and embraced him. Behind his back her expression was one of sheer relief that he wasn't coming back together. It was a mere blip. The situation would have to be monitored closely, but there was no real danger presented by a lapse such as that, or so Lusamine thought.

"Ow," he mumbled.

"Is something wrong?"

"Headache." Sun clung to her like a lifeline. "Ow."

Lusamine placed her hand to his forehead and his discomfort seemed to fade away. "Okay, Sun?"

"Yes."

This would need to be talked over with Faba. Sun flickering back to previous modes of thought was somewhat acceptable, so long as it wasn't long term. Sun being in pain as a result was a bigger issue. "Come on," she beckoned. "Let's see the Pokémon together."

"Yay!" Sun exclaimed. It made her happy to see him so happy.

They set off together, Lusamine's arm around Sun's shoulder.

* * *

Gladion dunked his head into the restorative gel. It was an impressive invention, and had been around for hundreds of years - it was what had allowed the system of Pokémon battling to flourish. All Pokémon centres contained multiple basins of restorative gel, which were used as receptacles for Poké Balls to heal the Pokémon inside. Every Trainer the world over knew the healing jingle well.

It worked just as well on humans, at least for surface damage. When Lusamine had begun her reign of terror, she had ordered her children to hide any marks she made on them by using the gel. Then there was nothing to prove anything except Lillie and Gladion's words, which went unspoken and unheard.

Gladion drew back from it with a gasp, the cool gel running down his chin and falling back into the basin. He felt the bruises receding, looking up and turning to his sister. "Do you fucking understand now?" He wasn't angry, he was exhausted. "Lillie, we need to force Sun out of here. I know I owe him. I do. But he isn't gonna leave of his own accord, not anymore."

"I know." Lillie plunged her face into the gel, Gladion stepping aside. The bathroom was a sheer black, and the gel glowed turquoise against it. Lillie sighed as it soothed the pain. "What do you suggest?"

"No clue." Gladion spat, and kicked the wall irritably. "We'll get him out, though. I'll get him out. I'll get him out and I'll meet you somewhere."

"What are you going to do? Gag him and drag him to the dock?"

"If I have to," Gladion said. Lillie retreated from the basin, the marks on her face vanished. "He's a trophy to our mother."

"Yes, he is. We've got to take him far away." Lillie had steel and determination in her voice, things Gladion wasn't used to hearing.

"We will," Gladion assured. "We just gotta plan it better." Gladion had never come up with a good plan. Now was a good time to start. He fiddled with his hoodie, pulling at the tears Type: Null had rent into it. He thought about how long it'd be until Lusamine forced him to wear what she wanted him to again. "We'll save him."


	17. Scribble

Sun was hunched over his new desk, the sound of his pen scratching against paper the only disturbance in an otherwise silent room.

Lusamine had given him a test to see if he was as intelligent as Lillie made him out to be. The schematics for Faba's RKS System were sprawled in front of him, and Sun had covered them in sketches, coloured lines connecting short notes, crossing out Faba's ideas and replacing them with his own.

She hadn't expected him to improve on it at all, simply leaving him with them and hoping he could grasp the concept presented. The idea of a multi-typed Pokémon, which could protect endangered species by itself. Of course that was the official story - the story he wasn't told was as a line of defence against the Ultra Beasts in the event of an invasion. That was the official unofficial story. The truth was that Type: Full was meant to exist to subdue the Ultra Beasts for her personal capture.

Sun's redesigns focused on the comfort of the Pokémon wearing the system. It was now external instead of internal. He hated the idea of placing the system inside a Pokémon, Type: Null's existence hidden from him, not referenced anywhere on the schematics. His designs were very specific. Titanium alloys would make a strong enough armour plate to withstand the power of the individual type 'memories' proposed on the original designs. Sun had improved those too. He had updated the whole system to the point where it was nearly unrecognisable.

It was an outer shell connected via cables that would attach to a Pokémon's limbs and infuse it with Type energies. The Pokémon would retain full mobility and had a full tactical display that could inform the Pokémon when to switch type drives. Sun saw battling as a game. He'd noticed some types did better against others and had recorded these matchups in a table in his head that had somehow survived the purge of his thoughts.

He wrote it down in a chart in some free space, hoping others would be able to understand it. He knew he thought about things differently. He saw Pokémon with stats and hit points and he knew how to play this game he had invented in his head to perfection. His notes covered every free inch of paper. He'd crossed out all of Faba's old nonsense by now, anything that could cause the creature pain was stripped out, replaced by interfaces that were humane and subtle rather than the large restraints Faba had proposed. He wasn't aware of the time until he looked up out of the window, chewing on his pen thoughtfully, and saw the moon hanging high above.

"Hmm." It was the first noise he'd made since sitting down to look at the plans. He was satisfied with his changes but worried about the Pokémon that would be selected to engage the new RKS system. It would need to be quadruped, in keeping with the original designs. The amount of power was still hugely dangerous to the wearer.

Sun considered showing his mother the new schematics immediately but decided to let her rest. He lay his pen flat on the black desk and span around in his chair until he was dizzy. He reviewed the plans again, inspecting them closely. He retired to bed for the night, thinking about the good he'd be doing protecting Pokémon with the RKS system's eventual host.

* * *

He woke a little earlier than usual - getting dressed and fitting his collar snugly into place, smiling as he did so, he gathered the schematics and made his way downstairs, laying everything out on the coffee table.

Lusamine was first to emerge from her quarters and sit down beside him, putting her arm around his waist as she pored over the sketches he'd made. Within seconds she realised exactly the level of the Trainer on her hands. "Sun... this is..." She wanted to tell him that this was the only copy of the schematics, but something about the level of detail in his scribing cut her off.

"What do you think, mother?" Sun asked, the want for acceptance coming through in his voice as a little tremble.

"Sun, this is all very advanced... what's this?" She pointed at his type matchup chart, and Sun shrugged a little awkwardly.

"I... I um, noticed some Pokémon types are stronger against others and some are weaker. I learned it while I was on my journey," he said. Lusamine didn't realise what he'd said until a few seconds later. She inhaled sharply and snapped to face him, but he didn't even seem to notice what he'd said himself. Was he remembering things slowly, or was it just an automated response? She wouldn't panic. She was still confident in the conversion being irreversible. She decided not to bring it up.

"So what you're saying is these types..." she traced a finger on the diagram, "are stronger against these?"

"Yes, mother. I think I can prove it too. I called it 'super effective'," Sun informed her.

Lusamine knew some types were stronger against others, but no Pokémon professor had ever bothered to categorise them, being more focused on evolution and the bonds between humans and Pokémon and other such insignificant endeavors. If Sun's list was correct it was a huge step forward for the world. Most of the old charts contradicted each other back and forth, and Sun's list was incomplete, but it looked consistent.

She silently mouthed _'wow,'_ at everything on display. Sun looked very proud. Lusamine gathered herself. "So... you designed all of this?" She gestured to the new ideas, the concepts Sun proposed. "Last night?"

"Yes. I could probably do better if-" Lusamine squeezed Sun closer to her in a sign of affection, cutting him off. He made a sound similar to a purr as she did so, making her laugh and feel her desire to control him like a pet rise at the same time.

"This is incredible, Sun. I didn't know you held such natural talent for this." She kissed him on the forehead and he giggled.

"Thank you, mother," he said shyly, blushing. "I just... I don't know, I feel like I can do it."

"Sun, you're so smart..." Lusamine was taken aback by the detail of the writing too. Unlike Faba who was dead set on doing things his way, Sun had left room for improvement and had made digressions where he wasn't entirely happy with an idea. He had even considered to make his system compatible with Faba's in some respects.

"Thank you," Sun repeated, blushing deeper.

"I'd best take this away before Gladion sees it," Lusamine said, and moved to scoop up the plans. Sun placed his palm flat on top of them, preventing her from doing so.

Lusamine was taken aback.

"Why shouldn't Gladion see it?" The question was innocent but Sun clearly wouldn't fall for a dumb answer. He wanted to share his work. It was only natural.

"Because it was his Pokémon that were chosen for the first experiment. That left a bad taste in his mouth." Lusamine didn't want to lie to him.

Sun looked horrified. "Wait - you actually made this version of the system?!" He pointed at one of the old diagrams he'd scribbled over, the one with the proposed 'chimera' of body parts with a giant red 'X' Sun had slashed through it. Type: Null. "The internal system?"

"We did at Faba's request."

"And you made it out of my brother's Pokémon?!"

Lusamine didn't falter. "He volunteered them-"

"No he didn't!" Sun's callout was astute. "And if he did he didn't know the risk... I mean, this..." Sun gestured towards other old diagrams detailing how the RKS system plugged into the cortex of the brain and could cause blindness and seizures if faulty. "Mother, tell me it's not true!"

"Sun, its fine. We learned from our mistakes-"

"You cut up Gladion's Pokémon to build an experimental monster!" Sun looked devastated, his usual smile wiped away and his eyebrows raised incredulously as if he didn't believe she could be so cruel. "You- is that why Gladion is afraid of you?!"

"Sun." Lusamine scowled. "Don't worry yourself with what has happened-"

"- I don't want to help you if you're hurting Pokémon! I'll run away! Far away!" Sun shouted the words at her and they struck like bullets. She realised she had lost control somehow. She needed the reins back.

"Sun," she said gently, trying a different approach. "Faba forced us to. He doesn't care about Pokémon. You know I do. I love them with all I am," Lusamine lied. Sun wasn't convinced, she could tell. He had his hands in a position to rip apart the diagrams if he so desired. That couldn't happen.

"Mother, what happened to the first one?" Sun asked. "This one?" He indicated the picture of Type: Null.

"We... Gladion took it with him when he left. It was his partner. We didn't recover it with him." Lusamine thought about how dangerous it was to have one of the Null specimens out in the wild. There were three - two were cloned from the original, and were in stasis beneath the Paradise, in the labs.

"Oh. So it's free now?" Sun said. There seemed to be relief in his voice. "It must be in pain."

Lusamine capitalised. "Yes. And that's why I wanted to show you the plans. I thought you could improve them." Sun allowed her to hold him again, but still looked uncertain.

"Will you use this? It's... it's not done yet," he mumbled. "I... I'm not sure about this, mother." He had a dead-set expression, a thousand yard stare. "I don't want to help," he decided.

"That's okay, Sun." It was only a test of Sun's intelligence. Lusamine still wanted the plans but wouldn't be able to use them if he took them - there was no way to memorise the sheer volume of writing. "Can I keep th-" she began, placing her hand on the plans beside his, but he quickly swiped every individual sheet of paper she hadn't covered.

"No. It's not done. And... you-" he pulled at the paper below her hand hesitantly, "it's not done, you can't use it, you... it's..." Sun was babbling to himself. Lusamine was watching him, and her hold on him was different now. It wasn't loving. Her hand was snaked around his neck, elbow resting on his back.

He tried to lean away but her grip was like a clamp. "Sun. Give them to me." The words were a breathed threat.

"No." Her sharp eyes became ever sharper at his response. They seemed to light up at his challenge, a toxic green, a radioactive green. And yet Sun's eyes were the same.

Neither wanted to relent.

"Sun." Her nails pointed into his skin. "Let me take the plans." She was drawing him in closer.

"Mother... you can't use them. They're not ready yet." Sun still wouldn't give up. "I won't give them to you."

"So finish them." Lusamine was hardly making a noise, speaking directly into his ear. "Finish them, Sun. Make it safe. Make it good." Her nails bit deeper. Sun twitched. "Sun, you'll make your mother very happy." She hoped that his mental conditioning would kick in and overcome the concerns he had for Type: Null, replacing it with his loyalty to her. She brushed her lips against him, feeling him quiver.

He moaned, trying to stifle it but failing. He took a deep breath. "I don't-"

Lusamine kissed him on the cheek, their bodies now pressed against each other. "Sun. Are you my perfect son or not?" Sun gave in. He kissed her in return, desperate to redeem himself to her.

" _Yes_ , mother," he said, backing away from her for a moment, after putting all his passion into the kiss. "Absolutely I am." He met her lips again. He was pushing against her, and Lusamine was taken aback by the force with which he was doing so. She held his wrists to restrain him from laying her flat. Now was not the time to go far with this. Lillie and Gladion were going to wake up and come downstairs soon.

Sun wouldn't stop. He dropped all of his gathered designs into her lap, trying to touch her even as she gripped his wrists tightly. "Please, mother," he gasped, his face red. "Please let me be your perfect son." Even as she held him back, he attempted to break free and get his hands on her. She'd put on a setting she didn't know how to turn off.

"Sun," Lusamine said, changing her stance so she was sitting with one of his wrists in her hand while blocking his other arm with her forearm, leaving a free hand to gather the schematics. "Sun, giving me this is enough to tell me that you're my-"

"No, I need - I need to _prove_ it," Sun said with zeal. "I need to-"

Lusamine scooped up the last piece of paper still on the table and stuffed it alongside the others before knocking Sun back with a shove and reversing the situation. She'd have to satisfy him quickly. She locked her fingers with his and kissed him, at first just to calm him, then with real emotion and gratitude toward him, her perfect son. She flattened Sun out on the couch and didn't let him escape, holding him down.

Lillie and Gladion had always shrunk away, tried to break free, but as Lusamine forced her tongue into his mouth Sun only closed his eyes and moaned again, this time openly, in a state of bliss. Lusamine invaded his mouth, pressing into it and keeping Sun's tongue at bay - he wanted to return the affection but Lusamine was irritated with his lack of compliance earlier and didn't allow him to gain the upper hand. She pinned him there until he was exhausted from the nearly violent nature of her kiss.

"Thank you, mother," he said as she sat up properly, leaving him lying across the other half of the couch. He was lost in happiness.

"No, Sun. Thank you," she corrected with a smile. She would have given the plans back for him to finish if they hadn't taken such difficulty to acquire. As it was she folded them over and held them tightly while Sun got over her assault. He was still in a personal heaven, shaking with hasty breaths. Lusamine knew he was too far out to notice, so she allowed herself to scowl at him. He was difficult. She was being pedantic, she thought. He could give her everything she'd ever wanted so long as she dealt with his quirks. She quickly rifled through the papers and cursed the fact she didn't have pockets to put them in.

"Sun, I'm just going to put these away and-"

"-but they're not done-"

"Sun. Relax. I just want to show these improvements to a few people," she lied. She didn't want to put it into practice but she did want to study the ideas he had and see if they made sense or were all jargon. The thing she was most excited to see was the type chart. That could change everything if it was correct.

Sun had sat back up, and while some of his concern had returned, his dedication was at a high and he wouldn't protest further, snuggling against her. "Thank you for giving me a chance, mother," Sun spoke. Lusamine played with his hair absently before snapping back to reality: if Gladion saw the new plans he'd throw a fit.

"Okay, Sun, I'm going to put these away now. I'll be right back." Lusamine moved before Sun could protest, taking the plans through to her office and organising a meeting with Faba to analyse the new ideas. When she returned after spending a couple of minutes looking closer at the plans, Lillie and Gladion were downstairs with Sun, Gladion standing awkwardly. Lillie and Sun were sat on the couch, as far apart as possible.

They all glanced up at her as she arrived, Sun with adoration, Gladion with apathy and Lillie with apprehension. Lusamine absorbed all the looks, all the meanings, all the emotion. It made her feel stronger. Hatred, fear and love were the most powerful of all emotions, in that order - so to have them all pointed at her at once was an experience.

She sat between Sun and Lillie, Sun scooting over to be close to her. "Good morning, you two," she greeted Lillie and Gladion. Gladion grunted. Lillie said nothing. "Oh, come now." Lusamine admonished the two for their lack of gusto. Sun was already against her, clutching her arm in a needy fashion.

"Good morning, mother," Lillie mumbled, resting her chin on her hand, her elbow on the armrest of the couch.

"There you go, Lillie. That wasn't too difficult, was it?"

"No, mother."

"How about you, Gladion?"

"Hmm."

"Gladion?" Lusamine's voice was challenging.

"... good morning, mother," Gladion replied properly this time.

"Gladion, do you remember the RKS system?" Lusamine asked. She'd changed her mind. Fuck Gladion. Why not tell him about the oncoming 'version two' penned by his friend turned brother? Why not rip into him, stick fingers into his heart and rip it out viciously, tell him exactly what Sun was doing for her? He was hideous enough to deserve it, disobedience deserved punishment.

"...Yeah, I do." He was confrontational. Good.

"Sun here," she said, taking Sun's shoulder and smiling down at him lovingly, "has helped me to improve the system." She scrutinised Gladion's face. He tried to hide his shock and anger: he failed. "Haven't you, Sun?"

"But I thought we weren't telling Gladion," Sun questioned. The sequence of words was the most beautifully crafted sentence that Lusamine could have hoped for from Sun. The use of 'we', implying he and Lusamine were closer than Gladion and Lusamine could ever be, and the simple, 'weren't telling;' implication, as Lusamine knew, the most important of all weapons in manipulating and influencing people. Sun was a gift.

"Oh, well, I've decided we can tell him now," Lusamine hid a smile behind her hand delicately, snickering silently. How Gladion must be fuming. "Sun's made it wonderful. Would you care to know how?"

"No," Gladion said, shaking.

"If you keep your mind closed forever, Gladion, you'll never learn anything," Lusamine taunted as Sun, almost animalistic, rubbed against her, making the same purring noise. Lusamine saw Lillie twitch with disgust at Sun's actions, and her smirk only grew stronger. "Oh, you two. You may never be as useful to me as Sun is."

"Then maybe you should thank us," Gladion spat. "For bringing him to-"

"Gladion, why don't we discuss this later?" Lusamine said warningly. Sun hadn't noticed, still trying to find the most comfortable nook of her body to nestle into and squeeze up against. "Sun," she cooed and wrapped her arm around him tighter, making him giggle childishly.

"Fuck this," Gladion said and went to leave, escape the mansion.

"Gladion, language," Lusamine told him off. "And you can stay here."

Gladion stopped, fuming. His fist was clenched and his brow was creased. "What for?"

"I think we should spend some time together as a family," Lusamine replied simply, Sun nodding along while continuing to excitedly search for the right spot to be in. "Don't you, Sun?"

"Yes, mother," Sun fawned. He hadn't even heard what she said.

"And how about you, Lillie?" Lusamine asked. She wanted to see if Lillie was actually willing to change.

"Um, certainly, mother," Lillie replied. She didn't sound too happy about it but replying in the affirmative alone told Lusamine that Lillie was making an effort at least. That was the first step.

"Three to one, Gladion."

Gladion's face was despair incarnate. All of the struggle was grinded out of him. He just accepted his fate and went to sit beside Lillie. The whole family sat gathered on the couch now, too close and too far.

Lusamine beckoned to her biological children, making them shift closer to her. She put her arms around all of them and hugged them, kissing each of them on the forehead in turn. "Oh, you're all so adorable," she complimented them, giddy with a sudden happiness.

"Thank you, mother," Sun smiled. Lusamine tightened her grasp on him in particular. She wanted to ravage him - she had. She would.

And the feeling, the fear, confusion, hatred, repulsion, anger, sadness radiating from Gladion and Lillie... emotion fed her. She loved the ease with which she could force the reactions out of her children. Sun was a weapon. All she'd ever wanted and needed, and more still.

The thought of fucking all three of them then and there slid into her mind and she chuckled darkly. She'd get around to it eventually, but perhaps now was not the time. Now was the time to really drive a point into them, tear through them to their hearts and crush them.

"Sun, how are you finding your brother and sister?"

Sun was playing with her hair curiously. He hadn't heard her question. Lusamine huffed with amusement. She poked Sun's shoulder until he came back to the present, blushing. Lusamine repeated herself, much to Gladion and Lillie's chagrin. "Um..." he began, "um... I like them... I like Lillie."

Lusamine laughed and Gladion grunted irritably. He had been very harsh toward Sun, but that wasn't really his fault, was it? Sun had changed. Sun had transformed from Sun into something else entirely, a monster, a creature, a _pet_. Gladion brushed off the slight without a second thought. Sun would speak his mind, he knew that much.

"And Gladion? Lillie? What do you think of dear Sun?" Lusamine showed them a feral grin as Sun resumed childishly fiddling with her hair, which was partially draped over him with the closeness he had to her.

"Hmph," Gladion responded. He refused to play party to this nonsensical game Lusamine was weaving.

"I like Sun," Lillie replied simply. The best she could do was hope to neither offend nor enthuse her mother, nor Sun.

The plan Lusamine had for her children was in full effect. Using Sun she could manipulate them to no end, control them in new and fascinating ways. Attachment, love, that was weakness she had never displayed... until Sun. Until now. She had to be careful not to let it consume her sensibilities; being in command was important.

She wanted Gladion's resistance broken, his walls brought down and his resilience drained. She wanted Gladion to become less than human, only fitting for his lack of love for her, the perfect human.

Lillie would be tested differently. With Sun's changes Lillie would be frustrated and upset, and how those emotions manifested would be entertaining to see the aftermath of. Maybe she'd break and become a perfect daughter. It was a blind hope, an unlikely one, but it was possible to be certain.

Sun's test was his mental fortitude. She had already seen his potential. If the RKS system functioned in a superior fashion to Faba's design then Sun's next great project would be alongside her in the most important study of all... Ultra Space. The creature she had seen through the portal hadn't been forgotten in the haze of Sun's newfound perfection. Working with Sun to find it again and create the perfect world with him by her side would be the endgame of this plan.

But there was still much to do yet.

* * *

She had spent the morning with her children, idly indulging in laziness, but by afternoon she had her duties to attend to. First was talking to Faba about the new plans. She wasn't excited to see him by any means - however she looked forward to his reaction at seeing his precious plans defiled. She'd torn off the type matchup chart and hidden it in a drawer in her new desk. Her old desk, with her graffiti buffed off by her own hand, was now in Sun's room, and she imagined that was where he had worked on the ideas.

She'd given the notes a glance over, and while she wasn't entirely lost, Sun's writing was abstract enough to confuse her in places. Wether the scrawling was genius or idiocy remained to be seen.

Faba's arrival marked the first time he had entered the mansion since Sun's operation. He came in with his head held high, expecting Lusamine to ask for help with some new project, but quickly realised that was not the case upon seeing the old ideas for Type: Null scribbled over.

"Gya- what have you done to my-"

"Listen to me," Lusamine interrupted, her voice demanding he do so. "I was informed Sun was knowledgeable in any field of Pokémon possible. I put him to the test. Look at this." She let Faba cross over to her side of the desk and read the intended first page of designs.

Faba was muttering the words under his breath. "... old RKS equals too cumbersome, too dangerous, too difficult to use for wearer, too painful on installation, too physically restraining, too..." Faba sounded less and less happy with every syllable. Lusamine enjoyed the sound. "New proposed design work... memories manually switched in combat, emphasis on mobility, comfort and ease of use. System compatible with..."

Faba sounded angry. Good. "He's right, isn't he?" Lusamine said, triumphant. "I may well have found someone to take your place, Faba."

"No, no, he's all wrong, all wrong, I mean, a creature with the power proposed and no restraints? The child may-" Faba slurped as he spoke, Lusamine shooting him a look of disgust, "-think that Pokémon are all friendly and well and good, but not my Type: Full. They are designed to kill."

"They're Type: Null after your failures," Lusamine reminded.

"Regardless, he has no idea what he's dealing with. While he may be-" Faba continued reading, "- he... how does he know these things?!" Faba glared at Lusamine. "Are you setting me up?"

"No, Faba, this is all Sun." Lusamine rested her chin on her hands placidly but inside was ecstatic at Faba's defeat. "Isn't he smart?"

"He didn't write this," Faba dismissed. "And if he did, his ideas are far too short sighted. No protocols in place to kill the specimens should they become dangerous. Not a single thought given to how to control them."

"He's a Trainer," Lusamine reminded Faba.

"He was," Faba grumbled. "Nonetheless, his ideas are archaic."

"In what sense?"

"Well-"

"Are you jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous of a brain dead, disgusting pet of yours?"

In other circumstances Lusamine would have knocked Faba out, but she had the upper hand already. "Oh my. It would seem you are."

Faba was leafing through the sheets angrily, trying to find a fault. "Cyber... energy... apparatus... type..." he listed off random words he was reading as if it was a sort of bizarre shopping list. Lusamine tapped a finger on her desk in an irregular rhythm, knowing the sound would wind Faba up further. "How does he KNOW?!"

"He is quite precocious."

"Oh, do shut up! My ideas are still far superior to-"

"Don't lie." Faba hissed at Lusamine's comment, sucking air through his teeth. Lusamine chuckled. She stood, towering over Faba all of a sudden. "I say we fetch Sun and ask him about his ideas. Tell him just how smart he is. Then maybe we can all work together on bringing back the Type: Full project that you got scrubbed."

"I don't work with children," Faba said irritably.

"You do now."


	18. Steel and flesh

Gladion was on a mission. He was not going to let another situation like his Type: Null's arise, never again. He had quietly followed Lusamine, Sun and Faba, had been listening against the door as Lusamine showed Faba the plans, had hidden as they went to fetch Sun. Gladion knew the passcode down to the labs after watching Faba enter it during the attempt to save Lillie that had ended up with Sun's transformation.

He wouldn't fail anything or anyone in that way ever again.

If he could save Sun and the other Null specimens in one fell swoop, it'd be his finest hour. So that was what he intended to do. Single Sun out and drag him if necessary to the dock, save the Type: Null that remained and get away. Gladion keyed in the code on an employee elevator after waiting an extent of time for Faba, Lusamine and Sun to vanish. The descent was terrifying, but Gladion had mastered his fear. He was in a state of mind where he was just focused, wouldn't yield to anything.

He snuck through the circular chamber that had wings jutting out from all angles, leading to different labs. Lab A3 was the one he wanted. He knew where the Type: Null were, and knew how to free them.

* * *

Sun looked at the two creatures with a morbid interest. They were suspended in a transparent pink liquid which cast a soft light onto the room - red pipes connected to the apparatus on the synthetic Pokémon's heads, sustaining it somehow.

He placed a hand on a tube and the creature's eyes focused on him. Sun wasn't fazed by it, simply blinking up at the poor specimen.

"Isn't it a masterpiece?" Faba wheezed.

"No," Sun spat, infuriated. "This is horrible. What you've done is disgusting."

Faba didn't say any more.

"Mother, please let them go. Let me look after them until we can help them, please." Sun couldn't leave the creatures now. He stood mesmerised by the things, praying internally for their wellbeing.

"They can't be set free. They could damage the Paradise." Lusamine held his shoulder, and he looked at her pink reflection beside his. "Sun, I'm sorry."

Lusamine tried to pull Sun away but he shook her off angrily. He had disdain written all over his features.

"I want them free right now. I have to help them."

"No, Sun. It's not safe for them to be freed-"

"I won't stay here another day if these poor Pokémon are stuck here forever!" Sun wasn't messing about any longer, the childishness gone. "I can help them get better! And as for Faba," Sun said with a venomous bite, "I could do a far better job of making things that switch Type than this. As you've seen."

Faba snickered at Sun's comment. "As if, you petulant-"

Sun turned. "Your mad science is less than impressive," he spat. "You haven't done any better than me in any field, and believing otherwise is a fool's errand." He had his arms crossed and his emerald eyes sparked with green hatred.

Faba was speechless, fuming. Lusamine was pleasantly surprised by the change in Sun's character. Lillie was absolutely right. He was far smarter than he usually let on. "Faba isn't worth your time, Sun. I can free them, but we need to suppress them - stop them from hurting you."

"They won't hurt me. I know Pokémon, synthetic or otherwise." Sun dismissed her concerns. "It's the masks. They need to come off. We have to stop restraining them."

"Their strength without the masks on is too great to risk. They could rampage through the Paradise if I set them free."

"That's a risk you should be willing to take." Sun took her hand. "Please, mother. You said you trusted me. Let them go."

 _"Let them go,"_ Faba mocked. "You don't understand what you're dealing with, child."

"And you didn't understand when you created them. Even now you're only pretending to. You don't have a clue, you hopeless wreck." Sun's reply was as vicious as something Lusamine may have said, which made her squeeze his hand in a sign of approval. How sweet he was. How very much like her he was becoming, a little Lusamine to shadow her.

"Faba, we will release them." Lusamine brokered no argument, both convinced by and wanting to please Sun for his exceptional performance. Sun hugged her gratefully, relief in every moment of the motion.

"Thank you, mother. I promise, I can control them, I will." Sun gently lay his hand back on the pink capsule. "We're going to let you out now. You don't have to be scared anymore. I'm going to help you."

"Are you dense? Both of you?" Faba whined. "You must be joking. We can't release these two just because a brainwashed little b-"

Faba's comment had hardly been a slip of the tongue but he knew he had made a mistake saying it. Lusamine had let go of Sun's hand and made fists, now facing the Branch Manager with a molten rage to her posture that Faba had not seen for a long while.

"Brainwashed?" Sun asked.

"You disgusting verminous rat," Lusamine spat at Faba. "You know that your usefulness is at an end. You would do well to insinuate no more." Faba took several steps back. Coming from Lusamine that was a very literal death threat. Sun was better than him. Faba could be disposed of quickly and efficiently.

"Mother, what does he mean?" Sun said, glaring at Faba alongside Lusamine.

"Typical delusions," Lusamine replied. "Don't concern yourself with it, Sun."

"I... I'll go and release the specimens," Faba gave in to the two of them. He had some planning to do. He had to kill Sun somehow, or remove him from the picture... or maybe fix him. That would make Lusamine suffer the most. Her favourite son, no longer her son.

He shuffled to the large control panel to enter the code to free the two Type: Null specimens, thinking about his options. Kill Sun. Help Sun. Kill Lusamine.

The options were regrettably few in number.

He entered the passcode and hesitated before confirming. The President was risking too much in the name of that child that he'd helped to turn. If he were to fix Sun, that wouldn't be atonement, it'd be revenge. Then again, they were all likely to get mauled by the two Type: Null anyway. He confirmed the release.

The pink fluids drained from the tanks first, then the cables fed into both chimera's bodies recessed into the top and bottom of the tanks as the creatures sprawled at the bottom. Then with a gradual finality, the two-inch thick shatter resistant bulletproof glass retreated into the bases of the tanks, and the creatures were free.

They were disoriented, weary. Faba stayed well back, and even Lusamine seemed uncertain about the decision now that the monsters were so close. Sun, meanwhile, was overjoyed. As the two creatures slumped out of their prisons and onto the black lab floor, they looked at him curiously. They didn't recognise him. They'd seen Lusamine and Faba before, and bristled at the sight, but they paced around Sun as if he was an interesting new landmark in a familiar place.

A thought crossed Faba's mind. Perhaps the Null could tell a fellow experiment when they saw it. They bumped their masks against Sun in a mild gesture, to feel out his intent. Lusamine was on edge. She didn't want any harm to come to Sun, and flinched as one extended razor sharp talons toward him, pawing clumsily.

"Sun," she called, remaining as calm as possible, "Please, come a bit closer to me."

"They're fine, mother," Sun replied, sitting down as the Null continued to play about with him, pushing their masks against him. He very slowly reached to pat one, and both specimens watched him carefully. When he made gentle contact, the one he touched made a low gargle of comfort. The other one curled up beside him and he stroked them both simultaneously. "See?"

Sun's handling of the two was unbelievable. His calm and relaxed demeanor as he'd let them come to him and engage with him first before he responded. It was a method Sun had used on his journey, they could tell, and Lusamine was struck by a vivid vision of Sun sitting in the rain outside a patch of tall grass for a creature lurking inside to wander over to him so he could pet it and make friends. Even though she'd never seen such a thing, everything was detailed, the water running off Sun's dark arms and his fringe clinging to his forehead. She and Faba had thought the Type: Null were uncontrollable. Lusamine took a step closer, then another, then another. She sat a metre away from Sun, watching him speak to the Type: Null. He was perfect.

"It's okay. We're going to help you, we're sorry. It's okay. I know it hurts." He hugged one around the neck and it made a pained _'ooh'_ of appreciation, then Sun repeated the gesture of affection to the other. That one simply closed its eyes and nuzzled Sun back in response. "Can we catch them to move them?" Sun asked. "Their legs hurt."

Whether he knew that from simply looking at them or if they had told him Lusamine and Faba had no clue. Lusamine had to swallow a lump in her throat before speaking.

"...Ye- yes, Sun. Faba, please, find some Poké Balls so we can move these two."

Faba was too shocked to snark or protest. "Yes, miss President." He left.

"Sun..." Lusamine shuffled closer, and one of the Type: Null began to growl at her. Sun shushed it, stroking its neck, and it fell quiet. "Sun, that's amazing... they're not meant to be docile Pokémon..."

She moved to be beside Sun. "Mother, you should pet one too," he encouraged.

"I don't know if-"

Sun had already placed his right hand over the back of her left hand and was moving it toward one of the Null's masks. Lusamine could have stopped him if she desired to, but something about Sun's confidence made her confident as well. The creature was eyeing her closely, and Lusamine tried to kill her fear.

Her fingers brushed the mask. The Type: Null shifted away from the touch.

"Oh. I don't think it likes you," Sun said. "I like you though," he reminded her. How sweet of him.

* * *

Gladion had seen Faba leave. If he could overpower his mother he could make the play right now, steal away Sun and the other Type: Null and be proud that he'd done something right. He'd come prepared with empty Poké Balls to catch the Type: Null.

He stepped in front of the door and it opened automatically.

He saw his mother there, sat beside Sun, both of them touching the Type: Null. They were reassuring, kind, heartfelt. Gladion didn't know what to think. Lusamine had heard the door open.

"That was fast, Faba," she said, unable to tear her attention away from the two chimeras she herself had ordered the creation of.

"Not Faba," Gladion replied. Lusamine sat up straighter, alert, and faced the door. Gladion had his arms crossed, a Poké Ball concealed in each hand. Sun was still in blissful ignorance, now gently patting one of the creatures on the mask in a comforting and soothing rhythm.

"Oh. Gladion." Lusamine didn't even sound bothered in the slightest, and indeed turned away from him. "Come and sit with us."

Gladion wanted to scream how unjust it was. These were clones of his partners, all torn apart and stuck back together as an experiment for her goals. Why was she now treating them carefully? Why did she care? "Mother, I want to set them free." Gladion took a step closer.

"That's what we're doing, Gladion. Please don't startle them."

"Gladion, I'm so sorry they did this," Sun said, facing his brother now that he knew Gladion was present. "I can't imagine what it must have been like to learn what they did."

Lusamine didn't scold Sun for being apologetic. It seemed in that moment she was feeling remorseful on account of Sun's words, and that meant there could be hope for her yet. Hope was fragile. Sun stood and the Type: Null watched him, one of them standing awkwardly and hobbling along after him a few steps before collapsing, exhausted.

Sun crossed over to Gladion and hugged him. Gladion hugged Sun back. He had to be strong now. He had to save Sun and the two clones of his partner. He had to-

He cried into Sun's shoulder. And Sun didn't let go, he just held on tighter. "We'll help them, Gladion," Sun assured. "Together."

Gladion had an idea. If he could convince Sun that Kukui would be able to help the Type: Null specimens, then maybe he could get Sun off the Paradise alongside the Type: Null clones. And Sun wouldn't resist. It was a good chance he had to save them all.

Gladion sneakily stored the Poké Balls in his hoodie pockets, so his original intentions were masked. Lusamine was still looking at him with suspicion, but Gladion knew she had nothing to accuse him of thus far besides following them down into the labs.

Sun broke off the hug but wasn't done showing his concern - he stared into Gladion's eyes kindly, the green that Gladion was still sickened by at least worn over a soft expression. "I'm really sorry," Sun said. Gladion had long since gotten over the fact that Null and its clones were a amalgamation of his own Pokémon, but Sun's words were so honest and apologetic he felt a sting of that pain return.

"Sun," Lusamine said warningly. Gladion understood. His mother didn't want Sun to care. She just wanted him to further her experiments.

"Mother," Sun replied, looking over his shoulder. "Can we take them to the mansion?"

Lusamine's innards squirmed with discomfort. The specimens were unnatural and untamed. The idea of having them in her abode was not a pleasant one. "Sun, I'm not sure-" she hesitated. She wanted Sun to be happy. If he was satisfied that everything they were doing was above board and humane, she could leverage more out of him yet. "Okay, Sun."

Sun smiled at her appreciatively. "Thank you, mother. I'll look after them. I promise." It was like he was talking about a normal pet Pokémon, not a chimera abomination. He cared for all kinds of Pokémon, evidently.

Gladion nodded along after Sun. He could bond with Sun over what he already knew about the Type: Null project to earn his trust before convincing him to leave the Paradise. Gladion recognised that he needed to become closer to Sun before even suggesting they leave, but he saw it as possible, and that was enough.

Faba entered the room again. "What is with all of these children interfering in my projects?" He glared at Gladion and Sun and pushed past them, holding Poké Balls equipped with devices that nullified the jamming signal broadcast across the Paradise. Gladion realised the ones that he had brought had no such devices - if he'd have tried anything he'd have failed miserably. The two clones glared at Faba, making odd croaking noises. "Hush, creatures," Faba demanded, flustered with his situation. He didn't have time to look a fool in front of the President, nor Sun, now his position was in jeopardy. One of the two lurched toward him threateningly, and Faba stepped back.

"Let me," Sun suggested, and Faba growled with impatience.

"No! I am more than capable of capturing these-" Faba was gesturing theatrically, as he tended to do, and the Type: Null saw it as a threat. In no time, one had leapt on him with lithe precision, headbutting him with the steel mask and breaking the Branch Manager's nose instantly. The other growled loudly, shaken by the sudden action, and was growing more agitated.

Sun and Gladion both rushed to the one that had Faba pinned down and while Gladion took it by one of the prongs on its mask, Sun wrapped his arms around the base of its neck and they both tried to manoeuvre it away from Faba. It stomped about with its talons, trying to dig into the ground to prevent the two from pulling it away. Sun was speaking to it as he did so, and it seemed to be torn between two minds. At last it relaxed, glaring at the scientist lying prone on the floor.

Lusamine rushed to Gladion and Sun. "Are you two hurt?" She examined both of them closely, Gladion surprised by his mother's care for him as well as Sun.

Faba squawked indignantly. "Ack- do you care nothing for-"

"No. Let Sun and Gladion capture them," Lusamine dismissed Faba. Faba knew better than to argue, but he'd have to conceive a plot to remain at the Foundation soon if he was to preserve his position and power. He silently handed the Poké Balls to Sun and Gladion and retreated, back hunched and face stormy. Lusamine and her children watched him leave with varying degrees of disgust. The President of the Foundation had never considered Faba too much to handle: but that was about to change soon, the disgraced scientist thought to himself as he left.


	19. Chapter Title Too Long

Sun and Gladion were together in Sun's room, both quietly tending to the Type: Null clones. Gladion had adopted one, Sun the other. Not much discussion had passed between them until Sun spoke.

"I like you too," he said. There was a hint of shame, or regret, in his tone. "I just thought you were mean. But you're kind." He spoke exactly how the old Sun may have in this situation. Gladion couldn't even tell if this Sun was the same person or not. What if he was doing this, being their mother's son... willingly?

"I... I'm just a little... judgemental, I guess." He had given Sun a few pointers on making the creatures feel as comfortable as possible. "Did you really make a new RKS system?"

"Yes, mother-" Gladion couldn't help but shiver at Sun calling Lusamine his mother, "-wasn't expecting me to, but I just had to... I couldn't let them do what was proposed on the plans as was. I didn't know they'd already done it." Sun was seeking forgiveness, Gladion realised.

"It's not your fault," he said, and one of the Type: Null huffed as if sneezing. "What did you do to the design?"

"I wanted to make it safer. Hopefully mother will still be able to put it into practice on these two. I'll need to rethink a lot of it though... I didn't realise that this stitched together mess was actually made." Sun was disgusted at the idea of Type: Null, but treated the actual Pokémon with utmost respect.

"Sun... there's another one. Mine. The original." Sun's interest was like a physical energy wave. Gladion felt it sear him as Sun paid the utmost attention to his words. "It's safe right now, but maybe we can fix that one too when we're done helping these," he suggested. Sun nodded solemnly.

"We should." There was Gladion's ticket to helping Sun. Get him to Kukui's lab. Escape with the three Null and Nebby in tow. Regroup with Lillie, fix Sun and live happily ever after. Easy as could be. "Gladion, how do we take off their restraints?"

Gladion winced. "It'll hurt them a lot, so they'll fight." He remembered his own Null's struggles as he and Kukui attempted to rip off its mask alone. "We shouldn't do it yet."

"Okay," Sun said, accepting Gladion's experience and expertise with the synthetic species. Sun had remained humble. "What is there left to do for them?"

"We can feed them later. Their masks stop them from eating directly - they mash up the food and put it down a tube." Gladion took off a chunk of the mask Sun previously hadn't noticed and indicated the many slowly rotating implements behind it that would crush and deliver the sustenance for the Pokémon. Gladion fitted it back into place carefully, and it made a resounding snap as it clicked back together.

The door swung open and both boys looked to see who was there - it was their mother. "Me and Lillie are about to have lunch. Would you like to join us?" Lusamine seemed slightly distracted, and her invitation too formal. Normally it would have been a demand. Sun nodded, eager. Gladion decided to follow his lead. His mother had been mild earlier, and perhaps she would be yet.

The boys followed their mother downstairs and into the living room where Lillie waited. She'd been told what had transpired in the labs and was eager to hear it from Sun and Gladion, but Gladion gave her a look that told her not to ask. He'd explain later.

* * *

"I've got an idea," Gladion began. "Me and Sun are gonna work together to help the clones, then I'll take him to my Type: Null to help that one out - and maybe Kukui and I can work on a cure for him. He'll leave this place if he knows that there's a Type: Null in peril."

Lillie had nodded along with Gladion's words. "That makes sense. That's... a good plan."

"Thank you." Gladion remained serious despite the compliment. "There's still a lot of things that could go wrong. And mother... I think she wants to replace Faba with Sun, now she knows how smart he is."

"Faba's not going to take that well." Lillie knew enough about the devious Branch Manager to know that Faba was defensive over his position to a fault.

"He probably won't. So we're going to have our work cut out for us. And mother... she... she seemed different." Gladion didn't know if he was fooling himself, but he felt confident in mentioning that Lusamine had been a little more kind toward the both of them, and had changed her thoughts on Type: Null in accordance with Sun's. "She... seemed like she cared." The words weren't particularly strong, but they carried weight. "It made me think she could change."

"Is Sun the price we have to pay?" Lillie's words were wise in comparison. "Do we have to trade our friend for our mother?"

"We're going to save Sun," Gladion assured and Lillie nodded agreement. "So that's the new plan. I'll tell you if it changes."

Lillie hugged Gladion. "I wish I could help."

"You can, whether it's by distracting mother or getting Sun to trust us. You don't need to take a risk." Gladion was determined to do the dirty work himself. Lillie wouldn't be put in harm's way by his plans.

* * *

Lusamine had plans of her own. She was scrolling through a list of imports on her datapad, not reading the words displayed and yet still marking everything flawlessly to continue the running of the Foundation. Her long fingers tapped and clicked against the flat surface as she moved, and Sun sat beside her. They were at the same desk, Sun revising his plans and blabbing on and on endlessly, Lusamine tuning into his excited voice once every five minutes or so and making 'mhm' noises regularly in response to his statements.

She wanted to pay attention to her cute little boy, but couldn't. She was sifting through her own ideas. Removing Faba from his position as Branch Manager and resident mad scientist and replacing him with Wicke as Branch Manager and Sun as... relatively sound of mind scientist would be tricky. Faba's ambition lead him astray, and his only desire was promotion. Demotion backed him into a corner, and Pokémon, when cornered, fought. He had made idle threats toward Sun before, but now that they were possible Lusamine had to take a great care with what she did.

Sun could not come to any harm. He was helping her, she knew. He showed her the good in people, his innocence, while choked and girdled by her influence, remaining true. He was becoming an addiction. Lusamine felt a familiar thirst creep over her like a many-legged blanket, glancing down at Sun and losing control of her breathing. She took short breaths and long sighs, gasped, hissed, trying to resist. The datapad went down onto the desk, and Sun looked up at her with his green eyes, exactly like hers.

And yet for one moment Lusamine reminded herself of what he was before they had changed him.

 _It wasn't quite paint. It wasn't quite slime. It wasn't quite water. Sun didn't know what it was, only that he had been forced into the vat of it, and that it was possessing him, swallowing him up, gluing itself to his body like a symbiotic monster, seeping over his entirety. He tried to keep his head above the goop, but it was shoved down by some rubbery force - a glove. He didn't care that he was naked and indeed was hardly aware of it, full of mind-altering drugs that would make this memory sink deep into his consciousness where it would never be rediscovered.  
_  
 _Faba dunked Sun's head below the surface of the tissue. This was the biological field of science taken to a disturbed extreme. Simply bleaching Sun's skin would apparently not do for Lusamine - she wanted him to wear her exact trappings, so Faba had come up with the horrifying mess they saw before them - an almost coffin-shaped bathtub sized container filled with an odd white fluid. It was synthetic, and would wrap over Sun's body in a new layer of skin. He wouldn't feel it - he'd just think his skin may well have been bleached, at least until he forgot it all anyway. The goo was formed of a sample of Lusamine's own tissue, and that would cause Sun to look exactly like her in skin tone - Faba was working on ways to change his hair and eye colours for her. He was pushing this tainted science so far for her. It was quite enjoyable.  
_  
 _He was drowning in it, his dark natural form becoming a diseased and pale white. He rose, gasping, and was forced under again, more of Lusamine's very essence clinging to him and eating him up like a demon's possession: for the few moments that Sun could recognise he was transforming, he could only struggle to escape the deep mire of the President's madness that sought to claim him for her. Lusamine watched without truly seeing. She was breathing irregularly, a smile on her face, her eyes a little wider than usual. She wanted to reach out and touch him. Wanted to make it personal. Wanted to cup his cheek and promise him that it would be okay before chortling, gripping the back of his neck and holding him against her chest before gritting her teeth and shoving him deep inside the vat to sink into her concoction.  
_  
 _Soon, he'd be perfect._

Lusamine returned to the present and Sun had white skin again, not brown, and his hair was blonde, not black, and his eyes were green, not blue. She hugged him, tortured now by what she had put him through to make him this way, shaking away the images that had burned through her for an instant.

Faba had made Sun what he was. He knew how to reverse it. And that was not going to happen, not after all she'd done to him to see it to this point. Sun was hers. He was her. She was him. They were one. And it would be that way forever now.


	20. I doubt its from a children's book

Sun had compiled a thirty page treatise on the topic of his designs. Somehow. With Lusamine's discarded datapad to help him search for any information he didn't know, he was able to fill in many blanks and come to understand more about the project's objectives without coming to know the truth. Meanwhile, Lusamine herself sat beside him still, nearly frothing at the mouth while attempting to contain herself and her lust. It was early in the morning, Sun apparently not feeling any tiredness while Lusamine's eyes ached with exhaustion, eyelashes fluttering nonstop as she tried to blink the need for sleep away. She had been content to watch him as he worked on his research, not speaking a word.

Now he was done he set his pen aside, yawned, and pushed the paper away before laying his head on his desk. So he was tired after all.

"Sun," Lusamine murmured, and Sun made a 'hmph' of acknowledgement from the desk. "Let's get you to bed."

Sun sat up straight and Lusamine caught sight of his face in the light. He looked exhausted. She hadn't noticed before. She had been looking without seeing. "Okay, mother," Sun heaved, his eyelids heavy.

"I'll tell you what, Sun..." Lusamine took his hand. "You can sleep with me tonight." She didn't want to hurt him, nor even fuck him. She just needed him around.  
Sun rubbed his eyes with the back of his free hand. "Okay." He followed Lusamine through to her bedroom from the office, and they paused in front of her bed. Sun sat down on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off and noticed Lusamine was frozen, a statue. "Mother?"

Lusamine's attention was brought back to the present, and she knelt before Sun. Reaching out slowly, delicately, she placed her hands flat on either side of his face, brushing stray hairs behind his ears. "Sun, you're very special to me." Her head was tilted slightly as she regarded him. She could still see him underneath... she hadn't noticed until now that he was absolutely the same person. There was an unexpected lurch as she recognised the boy from the first visit he had made to her Paradise.

Sun replicated her movements exactly, much to Lusamine's surprise. His hands cupped her cheeks similarly, parting her hair a little further so he could see all of her right eye which was usually kept partially concealed by her hairstyle. Lusamine was willing to accept this. Her image was important to her, but she felt like she could relax it around Sun. They found themselves moving closer, and it was Lusamine who had fallen under Sun's control somehow. It didn't feel all bad though.

Sun's lips were boyish and soft, cute like him. Lusamine's were sharp and cold, a little moist with anticipation. She wasn't the type for lipstick. The kiss, initiated by Sun, was short, a brief peck on the lips. An assurance of his dedication and love.

 _'No,'_ Lusamine thought. _'No, that won't do. I need more.'_ She wanted to protest but that would be weakness, admitting her submission to Sun when he had no idea what he'd achieved. Lusamine came at him again before he could think, expressing her wants harder, faster and stronger than he had expressed his gratitude.

Sun was helpless in the face of her love, and her hold on his head went from soft and loving to a demanding grip - not painful but not possible to wriggle free of without Lusamine's assured satisfaction. He _wanted_ to satisfy. As she grew more passionate in her kiss he copied her, holding her tighter in response, leaning forward off the bed and toward her.

Lusamine began to tip backward from his force. She couldn't lose to him - lose to him? This wasn't a battle, she reminded herself. She had always wanted control, always got what she wanted too. Something about this was different though. With Sun's inexperienced and somewhat lackluster loving, she felt that it'd be better to allow him to have a turn in charge. If he was going to be her perfect son, he'd need to learn more about this aspect of herself, and maybe he'd be able to control her worse side when he was older. She would hold her own though: it was an intense struggle now, both pushing against one another, their fingers playing at each other's skin, touching, stroking-

Sun made a sudden movement to one side, trying a new approach, and one of Lusamine's nails dug into his skin and cut through. Sun's left eye twitched briefly in an approximation of pain, but he was so absorbed in the moment that he continued regardless. Lusamine was distracted by it, wanting to apologise, but she couldn't break off.

Her short lapse in concentration costed her - Sun surged forward and Lusamine tipped over backward, adjusting herself as she did, Sun now stood over her as he devoured her lips while she clung to his neck in an attempt to remain balanced. It wasn't working. She continued to overbalance until one hand had to shoot behind her to support her, at which point Sun was pushing down, down, forcing Lusamine flat onto her back.

Lusamine didn't struggle any more. She wanted Sun to spoil her now instead of the other way around. She allowed Sun to do as he pleased, and yet he was content to merely kiss her endlessly as she writhed beneath him. He was kneeling beside her, hands on the white floor, arms on either side of her.

They hadn't stopped for breath still. She wanted to stop, even if only for a moment, to collect herself, but Sun was relentless. Her hands wouldn't respond to her orders to force him up. She caught sight of his eyes and knew fear for a moment. Sun was in a frenzy, the green of his eyes expanded and his pupils shrunken to a third of their usual size, either from a result of his programmed love or something more primal that had been unleashed. That gave her enough motivation to push him up and away. "M- mother?" Sun asked, hurt. "Did I do- do something wrong?"

"No, Sun, no. You're- we should go to bed, it's late." Lusamine didn't want to think about what had just happened. That wasn't supposed to happen. Why did she let him take charge? She was lost in thought as she changed into her nightdress, disregarding Sun ogling her from the bed as she did so. How had Sun descended so quickly into a lust she hadn't seen since... since _herself?_ She glanced back at him while smoothing out the black material, seeing him now innocently laying on his side, waiting for her to join him.

Sleeping with Sun would hopefully soothe her soul in some way. Those hopes were met as she slid into bed beside him and he hugged her around the waist. "I love you, mother."

Lusamine smiled. "I love you too, Sun." He'd recovered from the fit fast, and that made Lusamine relax again. He was okay, it was just a moment of- maybe he hadn't even lost his mind at all, maybe it had been a trick of the light.

As she held his head to her chest her finger drifted over where she had cut him earlier. Sun didn't react, and Lusamine felt over the cut. There was a ragged separation in his skin, but there was no blood, not a drop - as Lusamine's eyes adjusted to the dark she saw a tiny fragment of Sun's dark skin poking through the layer of white they had laid over it. She'd cut through the white and revealed the black, but the darkness beneath had resisted her claws. Many metaphors could be taken from this. Not one of them did Lusamine wish to see.

Her heart stopped. Sun didn't know it had happened - he was already softly sleeping against her. Trying to remain calm, she brushed over the slice in a vain attempt to seal it up again, but there was no such luck. So long as Sun didn't see it, it could be fixed without issue... or could it? She didn't even know if the skin was repairable. Faba may well refuse to help her. And if Lillie and Gladion saw it and knew there was a way to return him to his original appearance... would they exploit it?

Lusamine whispered a phrase she was now familiar with. "I won't let them hurt you. My perfect son."


	21. The Scar

Sun's tiny scar went unseen by him upon waking. All was well. Lusamine had to protect him from himself - even though she no longer held ill will toward his old physical appearance it could not stack up to his current perfection. Every time she glanced at him when she woke, she winced at the sight of the blemish.

She'd have to mend some bridges with Faba and see if he would help her again. It seemed unlikely after the conflicts they had been locked in over Sun. She could ask for his method and attempt to replicate it... but the issue with that was that she was not confident in performing any form of surgery on him, even if it was as simple as dunking his head back below the white mire she'd created. Drowning him as she had itched, as she'd wished to when watching it first adhere to his body.

"Sun..." Lusamine murmured as he began to stir, "are you feeling well?"

"Mmm," Sun grunted in response. He hugged a pillow, his eyelids fluttering as he blinked away sleep. "Yes, mother."

The severance was small enough for him to possibly not notice, but he was vain - not necessarily truly vain as a person may naturally be, but he regarded Lusamine as perfect, therefore attempting to keep his appearance matching hers. This posed a problem, because his eye for perceived imperfection was keen.

"Oh!" He sat up suddenly. "I need to say good morning to the Type: Null! I didn't say goodnight either!"

"You don't have to," Lusamine chided gently, but knew he'd brush her off. "Besides, they may still be sleeping." She'd never expected to have the creatures in her household, but now that they were she'd have to be more careful. There were so many things going on; Faba's potential betrayal, Sun's continued maintenance and upkeep, Type: Null and fixing it, Lillie's obvious infatuation with Sun's previous form, Gladion and his rebellious nature, the usual management of the Foundation, trying to control herself, and the Ultra Beasts.

"But they need to know I'm around! They like me!"

Lusamine allowed herself to say something petty and stupid. "I like you too though."

"Um..." Sun thought, a finger against his chin in an emulation of her body language when thinking. "I'll stay here," he decided.

She hadn't expected it to work. "Oh, you're too cute," she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand elegantly as she did so. The room was still dark in the early hours and their emerald eyes seemed to glow dimly in it. One of many illusions that the room was designed to make happen. Lusamine watched Sun blink up at the ceiling, that gorgeous green briefly cutting out and back on as he did so. She wanted to hold him. "Come here, sweet Sun," she requested, not unkindly, not demanding.

Sun instantly obliged, playing with her hair - it was nearly long enough to wrap over himself. Up against her he felt the familiar bliss he had been programmed with.

"Mother..."

"Sun," she replied with a smile, cuddling him. She'd fix him, there was nothing to fear. Nothing at all. "You know that no matter what, you're perfect, right?"

"Yes, mother," he agreed. "You are too."

"Oh, baby," Lusamine crooned, kissing him on the cheek. Sun placed his hand against her ribs, massaging her stomach while his other hand continued to fiddle with her hair.  
"Mommy," Sun said, nearly comatose with happiness. The word instantly woke the beast inside Lusamine. Innocence of that caliber wouldn't go undetected by it.

It seemed like it wanted to consume Sun, such was the strength of its wakening. Lusamine fought it down. _'Compromise,'_ it demanded in her head. She couldn't say no or it would press against her mental defences until they cracked - and the longer it pressed the worse it'd be for Sun when the dam burst.

And yet...

Lusamine gritted her teeth and grabbed the duvet, digging her fingers into it and tensing her muscles, holding Sun even tighter. _'I won't,'_ she replied to it in her thoughts. _'You will not hurt him.'  
_  
The fire in her head she associated with the monster was extinguished. Was that all it took? She slowly, cautiously relaxed. Sun was safe from her, for now. "Sun, you're my perfect boy."

* * *

Sun stroked Type: Null's neck gently. Lusamine, Lillie and Gladion were sat at the table - Sun and Gladion both insisted to help the Type: Null eat first, but Lusamine had overruled Gladion's want and submitted to Sun's at his insistence and the look he gave her when she asked him to stay at the table with the others.

Sun was speaking to the Type: Null as he fed them, and they grunted and huffed back. Lusamine was glad for the distraction he had been given. He was turned away from them so the scratch on the side of his face was invisible. "Today we're going to fix you, okay? But you have to trust me and Gladion," Sun muttered as he refitted the removable part of the mask to the Null he was speaking to.

"Sun," Lusamine piped up, "I don't think you'll be able to do it today... I'll help, but we'll need to make sure it's safe before we can do anything, and get all the materials too."

Sun glanced back at her. "But... mother... can we just take their masks off?"

Lusamine's tone was gentle. "No, Sun. Not until we're ready, please." Sun sighed, a look of deep sadness quickly folding his face. Gladion didn't like to see it.

"Sun, I'll look after them with you. All day if you want," Gladion suggested. Lusamine didn't argue, instead nodding appreciation to Gladion. The same scary thought raced through Gladion and Lillie's minds - what if Sun really did bring their family together? What if Lusamine... was _right?  
_  
"Can I help?" Lillie asked.

"Sure," Gladion said nonchalantly.

Lusamine realised the closer they were to Sun the more likely it was they'd discover his cut. She immediately needed to go back on allowing them to be with him. But Sun couldn't be isolated. Everything was so confusing. As she took a sip from her morning coffee, she wrote out a message to Faba on her datapad. She'd have to ask for his aid, and learn how to fix Sun should anything go wrong. Then she could be rid of him.

 _'Sun's skin has broken. Please help.'_

The 'please' was unusual for her. She had to appeal to his vanity to make sure he'd comply. Lusamine closed the datapad and lay it down on the table, taking another sip of the coffee. There was so much to manage, so much to think about, so much to control... the coffee tasted like nothing. Everything tasted like nothing. Her mouth moved and didn't make sound. Her world extended into infinity and twisted, and she experienced the sensation of falling into a bottomless pit.

 _"My sweet Pokémon... I promise I'll keep you safe... I'll protect you with my love..."  
_  
 _Lusamine was speaking to the latest Pokémon to be saved from harm's way, brought before her by an employee she already couldn't recall the name of. She heard footsteps along the walkway, several of them, approaching. Turning to face the visitors, she saw two young men with dark skin typical of Alolan locals and Wicke escorting them - they seemed to be seeking an audience. How very adorable.  
_  
 _The Pokémon were led away by the employee as Wicke began to speak up. Nodding at Wicke's words, explaining the situation (Faba had gotten into trouble in the field - again), she faced the two boys. "You must be Sun and Hau. Welcome to Aether Paradise. The Aether Foundation's own private island." It was a speech she knew well, typically spoken to those who had aided the Foundation in some manner either through donations or helping out across Alola's islands. "I am the president of the Foundation. But please, just call me Lusamine. I'm so glad we got to meet."  
_  
 _The taller of the two, Sun, seemed very studious. He had an expression she couldn't read - it was like he was trying to see through her, but not in a malevolent way. She couldn't describe it. Hau, meanwhile, was glancing around, trying to take in the Paradise's public conservation deck in all its glory. She continued.  
_  
 _"I'm glad there are people like you, who travel the islands to learn more about Pokémon... but there are also those unfortunate people who harm Pokémon for their own selfish reasons or even for profit." Hypocrisy was an indulgence, one of many. She held her arms out as if to embrace the world and saw Sun's expression had changed. It was now solemn, as if he was thinking about those Pokémon. He cared. "And that is why I am here," Lusamine said with a grand air about her. "I will be like a mother to all those poor Pokémon and shower them with love." Sun smiled at those words, and Hau was smiling too. "Even Pokémon from distant worlds, far from the Alola region, are worthy of my love."  
_  
 _She felt Wicke's glance. Lusamine loved to tease people with what she really wanted and what she really was, but would never tell anyone enough for them to predict her intentions. At that statement Hau placed his hands behind his head awkwardly. "Um, wow, Miss Lusamine! I don't know how you do all this! You're, like, not even that much older than us!" Deception was Lusamine's specialty, but Hau hadn't been deceived: he was simply a fool. A cute fool.  
_  
 _Lusamine laughed behind her hand, her other fingers closed over her hip. "Oh, you sweet boy!" She brushed her hair over to the right idly with that hand as she recovered from her giggling. "I'm already over forty!"  
_  
 _Sun's eyebrows shot up his forehead where one was concealed by his fringe, swept to the right like hers... just like hers. Hau continued smiling. "You are?"  
_  
 _There was a pause. Hau took a second. His eyes widened as Sun's had. "Wait, WHAT?!"  
_  
 _Lusamine laughed again, performing the same action with her hand. "Oh, you. The right style does wonders, you know. And, Hau, your style is a bit wanting, hm? I'll have to take you out sometime and help you pick a smashing outfit." It was highly inappropriate for someone of her station to say to a visitor, especially one so young, but it was in jest.  
_  
 _"L-like what you wear?" Hau stuttered, but he was smiling again. "I don't think anyone else could pull off that kind of look! Except maybe-"  
_  
 _"Just leave everything to me," Lusamine demanded, cutting Hau off. "Trust me - children would be much happier if they'd only listen to the adults around them." She had her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed now, not quite sure why. Trying to find the source of her change in attitude was cut short as the Paradise rumbled. The trees of the deck shook and large waves of water crashed in the pools built for the deck as the whole artificial island trembled.  
_  
 _Sun and Hau took the handrails nearest them but Lusamine didn't so much as stagger. "That tremor," Wicke spoke from behind Lusamine. "Did something happen on the lower floors?"  
_  
 _"No," Lusamine breathed. Faba's experiments with the remaining Cosmog energy were taking place, and that shockwave could only mean one thing. All of the colour bled from their surroundings, and a blue grid appeared to the group's right - it seemed to sink into the air, cracking the nothingness around it and whispering as it created a tunnel of light. An Ultra Wormhole. Strands of multicoloured light burst from it and then...  
_  
 _At first it was only a few shards of transparent matter, but they quickly were joined by more and more. They congealed and intertwined, massing together into a familiar shape. A bell like a hat, with light blue frills. Tentacles bubbling with a drug so utterly potent a taste had ruined her. A body like a dress, swaying in the suction caused by the wormhole. It bobbed up and down.  
_  
 _Lusamine couldn't think. It was here again. For her. To take her to the perfect world. "Did you come... from another world?" she asked it. It couldn't answer, but she was so in awe of the monster of her dreams that she couldn't help but address it.  
_  
 _It whistled like a wind chime in a sort of response. She heard Hau's voice, but not what he said. She took a step toward it. "You poor creature..." Hau rushed out in front of her as if to protect her, and she swept him back behind her with a steely glare. Nothing was going to come between her and- what?  
_  
 _"I'm gonna battle it!" Sun announced. It was as if he had teleported in front of it, so quickly had he moved while Lusamine was distracted by Hau.  
_  
 _"No, you-" she cried and took a step forward, but hesitated. There was an energy in the air now, and the creature began to glow red, sensing Sun's intent. Best to stay back until it had killed him.  
_  
 _"Go, Carbink!"  
_  
 _Lusamine nearly laughed. She knew that Fairy was weak to Poison. It was one of the most studied matchups, with Fairy having so few weaknesses.  
_  
 _"Use Gyro Ball!"  
_  
 _The humour of the moment vanished. The Ultra Beast exploded into its component shards as the Steel-type move made contact, ripping through the individually light shards of the creature's body with ease. Each broken shard rapidly retreated back into the portal, leaving only a perversion of the beauty she knew - half of the jellyfish-like UB remained, a hole punched through it by the force of the move. The Beast whistled again, more pathetically this time, and retreated back into the portal after its shards. It'd rebuild itself. It hissed at Sun as it faded out of existence, then the portal closed.  
_  
 _Lusamine was in a state of disbelief. The Beast had come back to take her to paradise and Sun had destroyed that which she thought unbreakable. She didn't know if she should kill him or study him. How had he- had he known?! How did he- Lusamine was at a loss. But what she did know was that the creature had appeared as a result of Faba's experiments with the Cosmog energy.  
_  
 _"So... it's true. I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back."  
_  
 _Hau, similarly astounded by Sun's display, caught her words. "What? Miss Lusamine, did you say something?" She didn't look at him, watching the space where the Beast had vanished. She smirked. Her irritation with Sun was gone. She knew what she had to do.  
_  
 _"The creature we just saw... was undoubtedly an Ultra Beast. An unknown being from another dimension, appearing from an Ultra Wormhole... it looked like it was suffering. Like it pained it to be in this strange place." She was lying. The UB had looked comfortable, but by suggesting that perhaps Sun and Hau would want to help her secure it. Sun had already proved he was useful in battle, but perhaps wasn't the smartest of individuals. "I can't bear to see that happen. I will save it. And I will love it!"  
_  
 _Sun withdrew Carbink back to its Poké Ball in a flash of light, facing her, Hau and Wicke again. "Thank you," she said to Sun. "Both of you. Thank you so much!" She ruffled Sun's hair. It felt nice. Sun smiled.  
_  
 _"I'm glad I could help."_

Lusamine snapped back to the present, blinking several times to shake off the recollection. _'Have you forgotten?'  
_  
 _'No,'_ she replied to the voice in her head. _'But there is much to do before I can be reunited with my sweet Beast... Sun by my side.'  
_  
Once the whole business with Type: Null was cleaned up and Sun was repaired and Faba was gone...

The next frontier was Ultra Space.

Her datapad lit up with Faba's response.

'If I say no, what would you do?'

She scowled.


	22. Blood drain slash Trust me

Convincing Faba was difficult. After a good thirty minutes of back and forth mind games executed through rectangular screens, they came to an agreement - Faba would fix Sun in return for immunity. Lusamine would not be present to see Sun being fixed so that Faba was still useful to her. He would not be removed from his position or else he'd reveal her secrets to the world - and that happening would instantly render Lusamine, for lack of a better word, kaput.

But that meant it was blackmail that kept Faba in his position, and that would not be permitted to persist. The only way to deal with the threat he posed was to kill him. She couldn't kill him personally, at this point he'd see it coming.

"Sun, before you look after Type: Null, I need to speak to you in my room," Lusamine called. Gladion and Lillie gave her looks that she ignored haughtily. This wasn't their business.

"Okay, mother," Sun said happily. He continued to stroke one of the Type: Null specimens, and Lusamine watched him with something approaching sadness.

* * *

"What is it, mother?"

Lusamine steeled herself for what she had to do. "Sun, my sweet child... I don't know if you've noticed, but..." she had to tell him what was wrong for him to be willing to do this. "There's... you've..."

"What?" He already looked concerned. "There's nothing wrong with me, is there?" Lusamine knew he'd freak out if she just told him, so she put her arm around his waist, pinning one arm to his side and grasping his other wrist. "M... mother, please don't get rid of me, I'm good, I'll be-" Lusamine shushed him.

"Sun. It's nothing. It's just... there's a cut."

"A cut?" She pointed into the mirror nearby, up against the wall. Sun followed the direction of her finger, and when he had looked Lusamine moved her finger to point at the small gash. "Oh... oh no... mother, I'm sorry, I'm - I'm not-" his voice reached a higher pitch, his body shivered with fear at the idea of rejection.

"Hush, hush, Sun, it's fine, we'll fix it, baby, shh," Lusamine placated him urgently. She cuddled Sun as he whimpered with horror, inconsolable. "Sun, mommy's got you. You're safe. Remember when you were little, Sun?"

Lusamine felt the prickling of reality at her psyche like stinging nettles. She didn't raise Sun, Sun wasn't hers. She had created a safe world for herself and Sun to believe in, and it was important to recognise that as fantasy and not as the truth, otherwise she could become as deluded as him. For that one moment everything she had done to the random boy who was unlucky enough to catch her interest slipped her mind and she truly believed he was her son. Recalling the truth hurt.

Sun sniffed loudly between wails. "N... no..." he admitted, and his crying became louder, Lusamine's ears feeling washed out in response to the noise. "Why don't I remember?!"

"Sun, shh," Lusamine begged now, clutching Sun and displaying a corruption of motherly love to the boy who wasn't hers. "Shh... we'll fix it. We will."  
"Why did it happen?" Sun asked. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong, baby, nothing." Lusamine always knew there were risks involved in doing what they had done to Sun. But she'd compartmentalised them and left them at the back of her mind, assured there would be no problems. Contingency was important. She needed backup plans from now on. "We're going to fix you, okay?"

Sun burst into tears. "I - don't hurt me -"

"Why would I hurt you?" Lusamine kissed him on the forehead, pushing aside his fringe. "Sun, listen to me. It's nothing. We'll fix it."

"Not perfect, not perfect," he repeated to himself. "Not perfect, not perfect, not-"

"Sun!" Lusamine called through his daze. "Sun. If you calm down, I promise you, we'll get you well again."

"But why does it look like that... my skin... it's not-"

"Sun, listen to me, listen to me!"

"... I'm not..."

Lusamine squeezed him tighter in her grasp. "Baby, shhh, my sweet boy, my sweet son..." The head of the Aether Foundation kissed him again, and again. Sun's mewling gradually faded away as he returned her advances. He blinked away his tears.

"Mother, why is it like that?" His voice was at last steady.

"Because... I don't know, Sun. But we'll fix it." Lusamine didn't let him go. "Sun, no matter what, I love you."

Sun didn't reply. "Mother, please... don't get rid of me. I want to be with you. Forever."

"You will be, Sun." She was still feathering him with her lips, gliding them over him. "Forever mine."

"Please mother, fix it quick," he mumbled, his face red with shame at his own skin fighting through what had been laid over it. "It's upsetting me." His eyes were screwed shut and Lusamine saw there was a clear struggle Sun was putting himself through to remain calm.

"Oh, Sun, my sweet boy..." she fondly rocked him back and forth. He was a chance for her to be better, to expunge the demon that resided in her soul, in her heart. But she needed him to be comfy and safe and loved. Once he was fixed she'd chain her little boy to her, fasten the locks and throw away the keys. Nothing would ever touch them. "Darling, I'm here."

"Please fix it," Sun said. He was only bothered with being like her again. Covering up himself. Not that he'd know that. "Mother, please."

"We will, Sun. Faba has said-"

"No, I want you to-"

"I don't know how to, Sun," Lusamine admitted.

"I don't trust Faba," Sun said, now trying to break free. "He hurts Pokémon - are you -" Sun cried out in terror and tried to break free. "Are you trying to hurt me too?"

" _No!_ No, no, no, Sun, no, listen to me, I'll be there, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you-"

"-Mother, you have to do it! He'll hurt me!" Sun had changed attitude again. Where a moment ago he was trying to break free of Lusamine after convincing himself she was in on the imaginary plot to hurt him, he now burrowed into her to hide from the mention of Faba.

"I'll look after you. I promise. I- I'll show you how much mommy loves you, I will. Just trust me. Please, Sun."

Sun didn't speak. He made a quiet purring sound as he nestled deeper against her, trying to work up against every nook of her slender body, where he felt most at ease. He was in emotional turmoil. On the one hand, his cut was what he regarded as imperfect. On the other, he despised Faba. "Mother, I-" he bowed his head against her chest, making her heart swell with affection. "I- just fix me."

"Yes, Sun." She tried to lift him up in her arms, knowing it'd be difficult to get him up of his own accord. She found it unusually difficult to pick him up. Lusamine was stronger than her figure let on, and had carried Sun before, but her strength seemed to fail her, barely managing to get him standing. "Hold my hand," she commanded.

Sun glanced back to the mirror before taking her offered hand. Lusamine had so many different ideas for what to do with him. She could do whatever she wanted. He'd obey.  
He would.

* * *

"Faba-"

"Listen to me. I'm not going to tell you how to fix the synthetic skin, and you're not going to fire me. I'm not going to hurt Sun. You're not going to kill me." Faba's voice was strained. He wasn't taking his potential replacement well, as intended.

Lusamine crossed her arms and nodded, appreciating Faba's shortness. At least he knew his place: bottom rung of the ladder, clinging on with one hand as she trod on his fingers. "Deal."

"Good," he hissed. "The formula was never meant to be long term," he added. "His body will start degrading."

"Then make a long term formula and we'll coat him in that instead. Faba, you can do that, correct?"

"Not if I want to go on living," he muttered. His situation was precarious.

"You don't have a choice." Lusamine's voice was cold. She had not an inkling of pity for Faba.

"I suppose not." Faba marched through the doorway and into the theatre where Type: Null was made, deep below the Paradise. Only fitting that Sun should occupy the table now - anaesthetised at his request so that he could be at peace while it took place. Lusamine had fulfilled the request simply because of an unfounded fear he may remember something if kept awake.

The operating table was white, but a rusty white. A drain resided in the middle of it, which had drunk away the blood of the first Type: Null as it was born, before it was cloned. Sun would not need to bleed, but it was an operating theatre that would offer Faba and Lusamine secrecy they needed.

"Why do you even want him fixed? He's yours regardless of what he looks like."

Lusamine decided to entertain Faba's attempt at conversation. "It's more about what he wants, Faba. He believes that... that which is showing through is imperfect, and wants rid of it."

"You really messed him up. I hope you're proud."

"I am. He's happy now. He's..." Lusamine had wandered to Sun's side, like a magnet was dragging her to him, lying there prone on the table.

"Yes, you took in some random boy and screwed with his head-"

"-you broke his mind. I asked you to."

"Semantics. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to tend to my replacement." Faba shoved her aside, making her stumble. Lusamine ignored his aggression. It was the random swing of a man with no options. "You know this will only take a minute, correct?"

"I wasn't aware."

"It's like painting. You're lucky I kept some of the formula," Faba mumbled as he set about the cut.

"When you're done here, you'll make a new one, a permanent one," Lusamine ordered him.

"...fine," Faba said. "Fuck you," he added.

"I'm so glad it was this easy to get to you."

Faba said nothing for the remainder of the reparations as he lay a new patch of the synthetic over what was real - a situation that seemed to be a metaphor for many things going on at the Foundation. Synthetic personalities hiding evil intentions, synthetic Pokémon for dark purposes, synthetic skin to hide what was right and true. He felt sorry for Sun now. Absolutely.

Faba was right - the process took less than a hundred seconds. He took a quick step back. "There. He's fine."

The patch was covered up again, with the exact same skin tone as his adoptive mother. Lusamine showed no emotion. "Thank you. I'll wait for him to wake up."

"You should probably take him out of here," Faba said, removing his gloves and screwing up the lid on the unmarked canister of the synthetic formula. "This isn't our most pristine lab. I'm sure you have fond memories of the one we set up in your home, but this isn't it."

"I can't carry him across the Paradise."

"That's your problem, not mine."

"At least help me carry him through to the lab." Every theatre beneath the Paradise had a lab attached with all the technology and monitors required to keep track of what went on inside the operating theatres next door. The labs were far more comfy, simply because there was no way for anyone without clearance to access the theatres - the labs were fair game.

The moment that clearance was required Lusamine had chosen to drop any sort of aesthetic choices that tied into the Paradise and focused purely on functionality. It helped her disassociate the darkness of some of her projects with herself. It was another facade. Synthetic light to hide true darkness. Like Sun's body.

"No," Faba replied shortly.

Lusamine exhaled sharply. "Get out then."

Faba did as he was told.

* * *

 _Sun. You... you did it again. Silly boy. You know that you shouldn't wander off._

Sun?

 _Oh, don't do this to me again, Sun. I know how it is. You want more, don't you? Your father... he did. More.  
_  
Sun?

 _You can't just leave in the middle of your lessons. I know it's difficult for you. You're different. But you can't just leave.  
_  
Sun? Are you...

 _Listen. I'm looking for an opportunity for us. We need to get out of here, away from your- How does Alola sound? Alola. The Alola region. The Pokémon are a lot more friendly there, Sun. You'll be able to play with them as much as you like. Forget school, Sun. It's... it's not working for you. I can see that. You're not stupid, but you don't... you don't learn. It's time to try it again, Sun. I know that I love you, but it's so difficult...  
_  
Sun?

The other voice was Lillie's mother, Lusamine. The first voice, the clearer one, was his- his- his- his-

His head made a quick correction. The first voice was his mother, Lusamine. The first voice, the one in his imagination, he didn't recognise. He was waking up. What colour would his eyes be when he woke? Blue? No, green. Green. Why was he so confused now? Was he remembering- ing- ing-

No. He was being silly. His imagination was running wild. But he- he- he-

Light filled his vision, previously blinded by the grasp of unconsciousness. And he saw his mother's face.

And all was well. No more doubt. Only love.

* * *

Sun and Lusamine had been gone for two hours before they unceremoniously returned - Lusamine shut herself in her room and Sun visited Gladion, Lillie and the Type: Null. The siblings talked among themselves, no real conversation taking place as they did so.

"Sun?" Gladion piped up. Maybe it was time to put his plan into action. "You know the other Type: Null?"

"Yes, Gladion?"

"I think we should go and get it. Before the others get fixed. So we can help them all at the same time."

Sun nodded along, one of the Type: Null nuzzling him to get his attention. He patted it on the mask, and it calmed down, sniffing him instead. Sun laughed as it did so. "Good idea."

"Can you... can you handle being away from our mother?" Gladion questioned.

Sun paused. Gladion watched him carefully, trying to gauge his mental state. "Yes. If it's only for a little while." Gladion was satisfied with the answer.

"Lillie, you'll stay here?" Gladion asked, and Lillie knew what that meant. The moment her brother had all three Type: Nulls and Nebby, he'd tell her where to meet them. Somewhere else. Anywhere else, where they could be happy again, and try to get through to Sun.

"Y... yes. Be careful, you guys."

"We can't leave yet," Sun said. "We need to tell mother that we're leaving - and I want to make sure everything is fine for the Type: Null."  
"Sun, we'll be there and back in no time," Gladion convinced him. Sun looked uncertain. "Trust me."

"...I'm not..."

"Sun. _Trust me_." Gladion had to hope that Sun would believe him. This was their chance, possibly the only one that they had. Gladion felt a great pang of longing, but he wasn't sure if it was for Sun himself or for things to be back to normal.

"Okay."


	23. Escape

Gladion led Sun outside, Sun nervously glancing behind him. "Are you sure about-"

"Yes." Gladion had the two Type: Null clones in the Poké Balls they were captured inside. They'd be family. The three Type: Null, and Nebby - him, Lillie and Sun. They could be free. They could be happy.

"Gladion?!"

 _Oh, Arceus.  
_  
The voice was Lusamine's. She had remembered her promise to Sun - to show him how much she truly loved him in his new, once again complete form. Seeing Sun and Gladion walking away drove a point of fear into her black heart that was quickly sharpened into a blade of anger. Fear was useless, anger was a tool. Guessing Gladion's intentions, she bore down on them, furious at the very concept that Gladion may try to take Sun away. "Where are you taking Sun?!" She was marching after them into the Alolan daylight.

"We were going to-" Sun began, but Gladion cut him off. He could not afford another setback.

"We were going to the Pokémon conservation decks," he lied. The Poké Balls were hidden in his hoodie pocket.

Lusamine pointed, not slowing down for a second, marching as if she was an unbreakable, unstoppable wall of fire, which she may as well have been. There was such a sense of primal anger about her so rarely seen that Gladion's poker face almost broke. "Sun! Is he telling the truth?! Is he lying to me?!" Her words were loaded with accusation, hollow-tipped with snarling rage.

Gladion took a deep breath. Stay calm. Keep composed, don't let anything shake you. _Stay calm._ Sun glanced at Gladion. "Mother, he's telling the truth." Lusamine slowed down significantly at Sun's confirmation of Gladion's story.

"Sun? You're not lying to me are you?" She didn't want to believe that there wasn't a reason to pick on Gladion. Her biological son was always up to something, something ugly and unbecoming, things she would not abide in her home. "Sun?"

"No, mother. I- I love you, mother." Sun had halfway reached out to her. Gladion felt sick but kept a straight face.

"Sun... you... you're sure?" She said it with an arched eyebrow but already the fire had been smothered.

Sun twitched. Lusamine's influence was taking full control of him again. If she asked again, he may tell the truth. "Y- yes, mother."

She stopped in front of her children, looming over them, hands on hips. Her gaze was locked onto Sun, searching him for any little indication he was dishonest. "Fine. Fine, Sun." She turned her eyes to Gladion, slowly, lazily, a threat. "And you... make sure he's safe." Lusamine hesitated. "Come here," she invited, opening her arms for them. The two accepted her hug. "I... be careful."

"Yes, mother," Sun replied.

"Yes, mother," Gladion followed suit. It only made sense to copy what Sun was doing... and why... why was his mother being so... not _normal,_ that didn't describe it, but something else. Human. She was showing restraint. "Come on, Sun."

Lusamine stared after them. Gladion felt his skin crawl, and even Sun was a little perturbed by it. "See you later," she called. Gladion felt the horrible cold idea that Lusamine knew exactly what was going on.

Sun twitched again. Lusamine noticed, and her eyes narrowed. She wasn't angry at Sun. She'd be angry at Gladion if he was taking Sun somewhere he shouldn't be. She'd ask Wicke to keep an eye on them both.

Something felt wrong. Gladion was up to something, she was sure. There was an easy way to find out - Lillie.

* * *

Lillie had been left alone before, but now it was worse - she knew she was being left alone. And she'd have to leave the Paradise without Nebby's help. Maybe Wicke would aid her in an escape effort. She should have gone with them. There was no reason to stay behind, none at all - it was just what had happened before. She felt abandoned, betrayed, but knew that Gladion was taking the bigger risk: she was playing the role of the loyal daughter to curb Lusamine's rage while Gladion ferried Sun to relative safety.

Sun. What if-

"Lillie?!" It was her mother's voice. Distant, but approaching.

"Y- yes, mother?" Lillie responded to the shout instantly, standing up from reading about Sinnoh mythology and the legends of Arceus to call back to Lusamine.  
"Where did Sun and Gladion say they were going?"

Lillie didn't dare say a word. Not until she had figured out how best to reply. "Um..."

Lusamine turned the corner, and she looked serious. "Where, Lillie?!"

"They - they didn't tell me!"

"Excluded you, did they? Didn't want you around?" Lusamine was uncharacteristically challenging, almost barking the sentences at her daughter. Just another mood swing, possibly. "It was a _boy's_ thing." Lillie didn't say any more, knowing it'd result in something undesirable. "Lillie, they didn't talk about it at all?"

"No, mother. They just left."

Lusamine looked around the room, confused, searching. Something clicked in her thoughts.

"And where are the... the Beast Killers..."

"Beast killers?"

"The Type: Null, the Type: Null; where are they, Lillie- WHERE ARE THEY!" Lillie leaned back at the shout, guttural and throaty, raw. She knew why Lusamine was enraged - because she was on the verge of possibly losing Sun. Maybe forever. It was something Lillie could relate to, and that gave her a shot of raw pleasure at knowing her mother was feeling a sinking hopelessness like she had.

"I don't-"

 **"LIAR!"** Lusamine was inches away now. "YOU'RE A LIAR!" She gripped Lillie's wrist in a death hold, teeth gritted in rage. "WHERE ARE THEY GOING!?"

"I don't-"

Lusamine backhanded Lillie with her free hand and Lillie felt the breath knocked out of her by the impact. Lusamine used the momentum to toss her into the corridor wall with a dull thud, Lillie coughing. "LIAR!" Lusamine spat on her daughter, Lillie flinching. "YOU'RE NOT EVEN WORTH THAT!" Lillie felt the stinging of tears again. It was so familiar, so friendly.

"Mother..."

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT! _TELL ME WHERE THEY WENT!"  
_  
Lillie wouldn't tell. No matter how much it hurt. Sun had to be safe. He had to. Lusamine kicked her in the shoulder viciously as she slid down the wall, all energy drained from her body.

"I don't know," Lillie mumbled, numb.

Something hurt again.

There was a shout.

"I don't know."

Hurt.

Shout.

"I don't know."

 _Hurt.  
_  
 _Shout.  
_  
 _"I don't know."  
_  
Hurt. Always, always hurt.

* * *

"Why'd you lie?"

"I... I don't know," Sun replied.

Gladion didn't know what to think. Was Sun still himself? It was impossible to tell. "Let's get the other one, huh?"

"Yes, Gladion."

They made it to the dock without incident. Gladion picked some random cargo boat and plotted a course to Melemele island. Back to Kukui, Burnet, Nebby and Null. It wouldn't be his first time escaping by boat. His only problem was stopping, but they could worry about that when they got to it.

"You okay, Sun?"

Sun looked blank. "I don't want to go."

"Sun, we're just going to pick up the other Type: Null. We'll only be an hour. You can see some other parts of Alola. We'll be fine, I promise."

Sun twitched again. "I want mother."

Fear slipped below Gladion's skin. "No, Sun. You're good."

"I need mother."

"No, Sun. You're fine. You're okay."

"I need mother, Gladion."

"SUN!" Sun flinched at the shout. "I'm sorry, Sun," Gladion continued, "but we can do this. Be brave, little brother." The mention of family seemed to override whatever had gotten into him.

"Yes, Gladion, we can do it!" Sun was excited again. Impossible to predict, like Lusamine. Gladion smiled, and it felt unusual.

"Yeah. We can."

In no time they were out at sea. By the time they were discovered missing, they'd be safe at Kukui's lab, where he'd be able to cure Sun - then they could run as far as they needed to. Gladion laughed, and Sun did too as they rode out Alola's calm blue seas. There was an air of freedom that Gladion could experience forever. He thought about living on a boat with Lillie and Sun, once they'd fixed him up. That'd be cool.

The sea breeze sang to them. That was something Hau had once said. While Gladion had never seen eye to eye with Hau, he had appreciated the boy's spirit. He'd carry that with him, one of many sacrifices to remember if their great escape was successful. And it may just be. Sun was humming. Once Gladion had the tune down, he joined in, and the boys smiled at each other. Gladion put his fist out for Sun to bump, but Sun didn't seem to recognise the gesture, looking confused. Gladion took both hands off the wheel and showed Sun, gently guiding Sun's fist into contact with his.

Gladion went back to steering while Sun practiced the gesture with himself, bumping his own knuckles together slowly and cautiously, repeatedly. Gladion knew Sun was a bit odd, but that really made him all the more endearing. "Sun, we're gonna be great," Gladion assured, then lowered his voice to say it to himself. "Gonna be great."

* * *

Lillie was screaming now. Her mother wasn't asking questions anymore, just scything with nails and beating with fists, lacerations and bruises. "STOP IT, PLEASE, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, MOTHER, STOP IT NOW, PLEASE-"

It did stop. Lusamine still looked feral. Lillie trembled and curled up to better protect herself.

"You don't know, oh, certainly, certainly." There was such an accusatory edge to Lusamine's voice it was as if she'd read Lillie's mind. "Lillie... if you're lying..." Lusamine stopped in her tracks, leaning over Lillie, her presence so strong it felt like the world tilted toward her. The shadow she cast on her daughter consumed the little girl in her entirety.

Lusamine smirked, remembering something. Faba must still have the machine they used to convert Sun. It could be used again. "Why don't we find out, dear? Are you a good girl? Or are you a liar?"

"No, mother, I'm good, I'm good-"

"I'll be the judge of that," Lusamine dismissed and dragged Lillie to her feet. Time to make the perfect daughter. "You saw what I did to your friend. Your brother. _My enemy. My son_." Lillie struggled feebly. "Now, I'm going to do it to you, if you don't tell me."

"No, mother, no, no," Lillie begged. A fate like Sun's was worse than death. Lillie wished she had believed Gladion when he had been preaching Sun's possible death. "I'm good, I swear, please don't-"

"You'll be the perfect daughter I wanted at last." Lusamine had a hunger in her body. Imagining both Lillie and Sun, praising her like a goddess, debasing themselves for her. Biological daughter, adopted son, changed mind, raped mind: poetic. Lusamine held Lillie tight, pulling her along. "I'm going to find that machine, and use it my damned self."

"Stop it, please, _please!"_ Lillie clawed at her mother's wrist, something she would normally never do. Lusamine felt the scratches.

 **"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"** Lusamine screamed. "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO ATTACK ME! HOW DARE YOU!" She tossed Lillie into the nearest object, Sun's bedroom door. Lillie's spine knocked against the door handle, burning with pain, and Lillie's strength of will collapsed into itself at last.

"They're going to- to Melemele island, to- to find the other Type: Null and bring it back, Sun didn't want to be away but Gladion convinced him it'd be fine, I swear, I swear-" Lillie stumbled on the words in the face of her mother's blazing fury, watching Lusamine change over the course of the sentence.

"Gladion." Lusamine's word was a curse. "Well, Lillie... you've managed to buy yourself some time."

Lillie exhaled very slowly. She stayed where she was. Trying not to appear as though she was thinking anything. Hiding inside herself, abandoning her body to recover in her mind.

"A little," Lusamine added. "Not much."

Lillie didn't respond to the words.

"You'll be like Sun soon. Mine. Gladion though..."

"Don't hurt Gladion."

"I won't. But it's time I proved a point to both of you." Lusamine marched out to organise some sort of retrieval crew. She wouldn't lay a finger on Gladion. She wouldn't so much as speak to him. She'd let the fear build, build, _build_ , then turn up Sun's obedience into high gear and have Sun deal with him. The ultimate betrayal, the ultimate proof he was all hers, to do with as she willed. Sun's remaining surgeries could wait. There were poison nettles among the family that had to be ripped up from the roots before Sun could blossom.

"What's that?" Lillie was afraid to ask.

"Sun. He's not who you think he is anymore. He belongs to me. He'll do whatever I want. I'm not going to be lenient any longer."

Lillie couldn't hear these words. Sun's metamorphosis had torn her apart. Sun had been her... her sun, her bright, shining beacon of hope, who had burned a path for them through the islands of Alola. Reminding her there were better people, better than her mother. Jealousy bubbled in her gut. She wanted Sun back, and may have just ruined her chance by telling Lusamine where they were going. Gladion would have to be fast. Lillie listened to her mother's departing footsteps, heels click-clacking into the distance.

"Yours?" Lillie whispered to herself. A vile swarm of emotions nagged at the back of her throat. There was something for her to cling on to, at least - the hope, against hope, that Nebby, Gladion, Sun and the Type: Null would escape safe and sound. _"Mine."_ She wanted Sun more than her mother ever could, and she'd do anything to get him back.  
She coughed, covering her mouth with her hand, feeling flecks of spit land on it. Some looked strange, darker than usual.

* * *

"Sun?"

"Yes, Gladion?"

"You don't know how to stop a boat, do you?"

"No."

"Awesome."


	24. You will always lose him

Sun and Gladion had arrived on Melemele island, Gladion taking the boat to Kala'e Bay instead of the more populated Hau'oli City Marina. They'd run the boat aground, but with any luck they'd be able to shove it back into the sea with the Type: Null's help. Whether it'd be watertight or not was a different problem.

"Sun," Gladion hopped off the boat and onto the familiar shore, beautiful blue waves lapping near his feet, "we have to walk for a bit. Think you'll be okay?"

"Yes, Gladion," Sun replied, jumping down after him. Gladion felt a strong urge to protect Sun. If anyone recognised him - which was unlikely given how much of Sun had changed - Gladion didn't want to deal with the drama. He'd look after Sun like he really was his brother, he decided. The boy was so vulnerable and innocent in spite of all that had happened to him. Gladion had always been interested in Sun since he'd approached the Kantonian and asked to battle, refusing to take no for an answer.

Sun had swept the floor with him. Annihilation, so shortly after Gladion had done something similar to Hau. Type: Null had been shaky for days, cowering at the idea of Sun's return. The image of Sun, Dartrix by his side, had haunted Gladion. And when they'd decided to attack the Paradise to get Lillie back, it was a full-blown Decidueye - a Mimikyu followed after Sun like a sentient toy and Sun's light blue Minior glowed in the evening. His Carbink had been in its ball at the time. Gladion saw how Sun treated his team, not like pets like some Trainers, not tools like others, nor even friends like himself. To Sun, Pokémon were family. It made Gladion change how he thought too.

Now though Sun was gone and all that remained was the boy who could only represent what Sun was or may have been. The same being, a different person.

"Gladion?" Sun's single word brought Gladion back to the task at hand.

"We have to pass through the cave. Follow me." Gladion felt something brush against his hand, and realised Sun wanted to hold it. Before he could say no, Sun had intertwined his fingers with Gladion's. "Sun," Gladion began, trying not to blush - stupid thing, what was there to freak out about - "Are you... scared?"

Sun nodded once and stayed very close to Gladion. "I just want to get this done, please, Gladion."

"Sun, there's nothing to be afraid of," Gladion encouraged. "I'll look after you. I will."

Sun stared with his big, round, green eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay." If Lusamine wasn't around, Sun had to settle for the next best thing, in this case Gladion. Their shoulders were almost touching such was their closeness. Sun wanted to hide from something, but what it was he didn't know.

"Here, Sun," Gladion pointed with his free hand at a small hole in a rocky outcrop, big enough to crouch through. Sun was less than excited at the prospect of doing so. He hesitantly climbed up after Gladion, who went first through the gap. Sun followed, his resolve shaking in the dark and the damp of Seaward Cave. The last time Gladion was here he'd thought Sun was dead.

Seaward Cave was easy to be lost in unless you followed the simple rule, 'head up.' Gladion knew the rule, and followed it to the letter. Sun followed without question: in fact he was almost uncomfortably close to Gladion, and the feeling of holding Sun's hand made things feel a little awkward, to Gladion at least. They passed the spot where Gladion and Lillie had been crouched together what felt like a lifetime ago.

"Sun, do you remember anything?" Gladion asked at last. It was worth a try.

"Any of what?" Sun asked. Gladion didn't know how to approach the issue, knowing if he was too brash Sun would shut down and refuse to go with him any longer.  
"Um... how about when we were kids?" Sun's face wrinkled with concentration.

"Hmm... I don't," he admitted to his 'brother', hanging his head in shame. "Am I different?" Sun questioned, surprising Gladion. "Just because... my - my s- I feel a little different to you and Lillie. It's like, my hair isn't the exact same as yours," Sun gestured and Gladion understood what he meant. Sun's hair was swept to the right and was significantly different in consistency to his 'siblings'. Gladion wondered why Lusamine hadn't forced him to change his haircut. "And, she says I'm perfect but I'm the same as you..."

"Yeah, well, I don't know," Gladion replied. He'd avoid telling Sun what really happened until Lillie was there too. They'd discuss what to say to him to avoid making him upset. Then they could get to fixing him. "But you can't remember anything at all?"

"No," Sun sighed, and held onto Gladion a little tighter. Gladion thought it felt nice - he was usually very antisocial and had given Sun the cold shoulder in the past until Sun had proved himself not only a threat, but a strong ally. Now Gladion had to be strong for Sun, and he would be.

 _"My partner Null was born to be a beast killer!" Gladion shouted, taking command of the situation. "Hau, you take Guzma!" Guzma laughed, and Hau visibly shrunk away. "Sun, stop the President! If we don't-" Gladion hesitated. Lusamine was storming toward Sun, leaving the beast in the dust as she bore down on him. Guzma was approaching Hau too, and Hau broke rank and ran - frankly, Gladion didn't blame him. "Sun-" Gladion called his name. They had to retreat.  
_  
 _Sun was marching toward Lusamine, the Poké Ball with his partner Decidueye in hand: prepared and composed enough to duel her in a Pokémon battle. Gladion knew Lusamine wasn't interested in battle. "Sun, forget it!" Lusamine was within striking distance of Sun and swung at him with the container Nebby was trapped inside. It made a clunk as it hit Sun's ribs and Lillie screamed. Sun however had put his arms around the case and tore it from the President's grip.  
_  
 _"Catch!" Sun yelled and threw the black case at Lillie. She did catch it. Sun smirked and turned to battle Lusamine - and caught a smack to the face, decking him to the ground. Gladion put his arm out to block Lillie from doing anything.  
_  
 _"We have to go," Gladion insisted.  
_  
 _"No, Gladion, he'll get hurt-"  
_  
 _"We have to, Lillie."  
_  
 _"No-"  
_  
 _"Lillie-"  
_  
 _"NO, GLADION, I WON'T LEAVE-"  
_  
 _Gladion wrapped his arm around her, pinning her arms to her sides and dragged her toward the way out. Guzma was watching Sun getting beaten with interest, forgetting Gladion and Lillie. Gladion shoved Lillie back, looking over his shoulder one last time. Sun was on the ground, Lusamine driving her sharp black heel into his forehead repeatedly. Blood was seeping from the point of contact.  
_  
 _"Wait-" Sun begged. Gladion knew what Sun was thinking, and it hurt. He thought they were abandoning him, but they didn't have a choice. Lusamine glanced up at Gladion, furious. Gladion ran.  
_

Gladion squeezed Sun's hand. "It'll be fine. I'll look after you."

Sun smiled. "Thanks, Gladion."

Perhaps Lusamine's influence would grow weaker over time, or on the other hand it'd get stronger as Sun pined for her more. Gladion hoped for the former. He was still disgusted by what Lusamine had done, but he'd just have to deal with it now.

When Sun was fixed and back to himself... Gladion felt something else now. He'd protect Sun from Lusamine forever if need be. The cave's inhabitants - Zubats and the like - sniffed them out and flew down to pester, but were dismissed by Gladion with threatening waves. Sun meanwhile seemed to want to play with them, but they didn't have time for that and the Pokémon weren't domesticated, as Gladion had to remind him several times. The duo took cautious steps around the cavern's deep and dark pools and carefully scaled rocky outcrops.

The exit into Melemele Meadow was a crawl space forged of rock too small for them to go through side by side, and Gladion could already tell Sun was going to find this difficult. Sun wasn't a fearful person, but it was easy for him to become uncomfortable, especially in the cold and dark.

"Guess I'll go first," Gladion said nonchalantly. If he was composed Sun would follow his lead. He lay on his chest, taking a deep breath. One hand in front of the other. The tunnel wasn't long, the yellow flowers clearly visible on the other side only a metre or two away. Gladion noticed he was holding the breath he had taken and let it go. There was a lump in his throat he swallowed.

He wasn't claustrophobic, no - it was just pressure, he assured himself. What must it have taken for them to break Sun? Had they stuffed him in some dark, deep hole like the one Gladion currently occupied and left his mind to splinter and crack? If that was the case would Sun freak out going through the tunnel? He felt the rock beneath him was somewhat damp. He was sipping on breath now, but had made it to the end point, pulling himself out into the light. He immediately turned around for Sun, still lying flat, ready to take his hands and drag Sun through if he had to.

Sun looked very apprehensive. Gladion could see his friend's face in the darkness, green eyes like beacons. Sickness rose in his stomach at the sight. That wasn't Sun. Gladion still had to get used to the new 'Aether' Sun.

Sun was slow, eyes shut, taking deep breaths. He was doing well until Gladion's fears were realised - Sun locked up halfway through the tunnel and lay entirely still, shivering.

"Sun?!" Gladion called urgently. He was too far to reach without crawling back in himself. "Sun, can you-"

 _His chest was soaked, and the bottom of the pit was an inch deep in rainwater. It was hell on earth, his bones aching with contortion, his backside and legs sopping wet, partially submerged.  
_  
Sun's chest was damp from the wet rock beneath, individual droplets against his fingers. He was trapped in the pit again, his bones aching again, his eyes hurting, his memories all his.

"Gladion?" Sun asked. He was in the pit a moment ago. Where was he now? Why? What had happened? He tried to stand up and bashed his head against the tunnel ceiling, collapsing back down from the pain. He put his hands around the back of his skull where it had hit the rock ceiling, sharp pain in his head - the damp against his elbows didn't help his uncomfortable position. "Ow- where are we? I was- we were-"

Gladion failed to hide his excitement. "Sun?!" It was _him,_ it was Sun- it was _Sun!  
_  
"How did I get here? We were at Aether Paradise, weren't we? Why am I here?" Sun had his confidence back and was almost out of the tunnel. Gladion took his wrists and helped pull him the last few yards.

"Sun - oh my Arceus, I'm glad you're-" Gladion saw something else had changed. Sun was looking at where Gladion had took his wrist, looking at his white hand in Gladion's white grip. He was focused on it intensely, and as soon as he had arrived there, come back for an instant, he was gone again.

"Thanks for helping me, Gladion," Sun said and hugged Gladion tightly. Gladion felt an emotion he hadn't in a while - loss. Real, genuine loss. Sun had been there, right there, and he'd been pulled back into the well of lies his mother had programmed into him. "Wow... this place is beautiful!" Sun gestured around Melemele Meadow. Gladion wasn't one for 'beautiful', not after his mother's obsession with the concept.

"Yeah, I suppose," Gladion offered. He wasn't going to cry over losing Sun again. He'd just take it as a sign that his friend could still be reached. Wherever he was, Gladion would find him, and lift him out of the dark, even if it took him and Lillie a lifetime to do so.

* * *

Lillie's whole body ached, but sheer rage gave her strength. She'd never been this angry in her life. Sun was not something for her mother to collect. He was his own person, had been, would be again. She pushed herself up against Sun's bedroom door, and as she did so she accidentally pushed down on the door handle that her spine had made painful contact with.

Lillie tumbled backward into Sun's room, hitting the ground with an _'oof'_ \- groggy, she forced herself to stand again and caught sight of a datapad Sun must have used to compile his plans for Type: Null and the RKS system. Couldn't hurt to look at them.

Lillie took the chair from Sun's desk and sat in front of the pad, waking it with a poke. Password protected. What would Sun use? Lillie knew what _this_ Sun would use, but didn't want to type it.

She sat, thinking, before deciding she had to go with her instinct.

MOTHER

Nope. Lillie nodded. Thank goodness. There were still more obvious options to exhaust however.

LUSAMINE

Accepted. Lillie's face twitched in disgust. That twitch led to a scowl, and Lillie took the pad in her hands and banged it against a sharp corner of the desk. The screen split into a wide crack. Lillie ignored the surface damage and continued. She wasn't going to be a burden anymore. She'd never be weak again.

It didn't take very long for Lillie to think of something devious.

* * *

Faba's datapad pinged.

His neck was in a metaphorical noose. He had no choices, and was working diligently on something else for Sun. Sun had changed everything on the Paradise. Faba had to find a way to save the Foundation from Lusamine's escalated ever present madness and her new 'son', her new little project that was becoming more dangerous than any other.

The sound pulled him out of reflection and into the present - he took up the pad in one gloved hand and glared at the screen.

 **Hello. I understand you were involved in the process of changing the person who was once Sun Elio.  
**  
Faba was instantly on guard. Ignoring the message could bring retribution. Perhaps this was a potential employer that Lusamine had accidentally told about his efforts.

"That's classified," Faba muttered as he typed the words.

The stranger was typing back.

 **Don't worry. I already know everything. I already know he is a threat to you. Your position. All your hard work, gone to waste.  
**  
Faba didn't know what to do. What kind of game was this person playing? Best cut to the chase.

 _What do you want?  
_  
 **Our interests overlap. You don't want to lose your job. I want Sun back.  
**  
 _Want him back?  
_  
 **Yes. You broke him. You can fix him, in secret. You'll wound Lusamine in a way you could only dream of doing alone. Revert him to how he was. It's the right thing to do.  
**  
Faba couldn't help but follow the stranger's logic. Their suggestion was good, but it wasn't as if Faba hadn't thought of it himself. It'd be easier to just kill Sun, though. Less messing about, more simple, clean solutions. Long term, too.

 _You say it like it will be easy.  
_  
 **Can it be done?  
**  
Faba thought. The process was meant to be irreversible, but there was one possibility - delivering an electric shock to Sun's brain could refire everything and get the whole thing working again. The only thing that was wholly unclear was whether or not his attraction to Lusamine could be cured.

 _Yes, it can. Possibly.  
_  
 **What was done to him to make him this way?  
**  
 _Very specific surgery. If you don't know, I won't tell you.  
_  
 **That's fair. Would you be interested in pursuing my suggestion?  
**  
 _Yes.  
_  
 **I'll make my identity clear to you the next time we meet.  
**  
Faba felt like this could be a ruse, Lusamine trying to see just how loyal he was to her cause. He wasn't loyal to her cause, he was loyal to the Foundation's cause - and whatever interesting projects came up along the way. But there was one possibility.

 _Gladion?  
_  
 **Good guess. Not right, though.  
**  
Faba set aside the identity of the correspondent and focused instead on securing a few moments more alive once he was done with the problem of Sun's skin.

 _I'm currently working on something else for Sun. I will work on a method of reverting him simultaneously.  
_  
 **Thank you for your cooperation.  
**  
Faba's sentence to the guillotine could be either suspended or rescheduled, but only if he did this right. He resumed working on the new synthetic skin for Sun, feeling disgusted. There had to be a way to save himself. His mysterious benefactor may offer it, and that was all he had to cling on to.

* * *

Lillie smirked, satisfied. She'd turn everything against Lusamine, everything until she had Sun back and they could be safe together again. She'd been the insect her mother called her - no longer. Now she was herself, and Lillie was no coward.

Lillie continued to research using Sun's datapad, frustrated by constant lockouts just before being able to access some really incriminating details. It only made sense that Sun should be blocked from learning the means of his conversion, but Lillie needed to know, and Faba wouldn't tell her.

But her mother might. She'd already let on that she could make Lillie the same way, and while it'd be an enormous risk to try and make her mother change her too, she had to see what she was up against. Psychological torture? Physical? A bit of both? Full-on brainwashing? Some horrible pseudoscience? The possibilities were endless.  
Lillie shut off the datapad, knowing there was no way to find what she needed to know.

Her mother had mentioned a machine. That was all she had to go on. Lillie glared at the black surface.

* * *

Route Three was nice.

A cliffside bathed in bright sunlight, with bird Pokémon and even the occasional Salamence on patrol through the air. Sun loved it all, seeing it for the first time again. "Gladion, look, look!" Sun pointed out one of the dragons, and Gladion glanced toward it.

"Sun, if one of those things swoops down, you tell me, okay?" Gladion spoke as one of the dragons spat a ball of fire which exploded a mile above the island, casting a brief orange glow over the Route. Sun laughed and jumped up and down, clapping with delight. "Sun?"

"Y- yes, Gladion." Sun said, having not heard what Gladion said at all. The boy in black sighed. "I wish I could touch one," Sun said.

"Hey, Sun, we've got to focus on getting the other Type: Null."

"And then we can go back to mother and fix them all!" Sun's exclamation had such intrinsic joy at the idea of returning to Lusamine that Gladion felt a slight jolt of disgust. _'Mother.'_ It was wrong, it was wrong, but Sun- he still loved Pokémon with all he was. That was something Gladion could use, something he could build on to find Sun again under all that rubble Lusamine had buried him. Gladion felt his eyes sting, but he held back the emotion.

"Sun, it's getting late. I think we might need to stay the night on the island." Gladion had to shut Sun's excitement down, unfortunately. He couldn't take any more of this 'Aether' Sun's happiness. It was scary, it was depressing, it was something Gladion hated inside something Gladion... well, not _loved,_ he didn't think so... but he'd definitely respected and looked up to Sun.

"I'm - I can't just -" Sun grabbed Gladion's hand unexpectedly and walked alongside him instead of trailing behind. "Gladion, I can't be away from mo- the, um, the Paradise."

"You'll be fine. You've got me." Gladion couldn't bring himself to look at Sun, and if he had he'd see Sun didn't look reassured.

The grey rocks of the Route thinned out into a rickety wooden bridge, reaching over the Kala'e Bay. The way back to the Hau'oli outskirts. Gladion needed Kukui and Burnet to stay calm if they were going to help Sun. All traces of Sun's previous identity had been wiped off of the face of the earth, so calling any sort of authority was a no.

Gladion's thoughts had distracted him.

"Gladion! Look!"

A Salamence was flying down toward the bridge they were stood on. Gladion now held Sun's hand very tightly. "Sun-"

Sun waved to it eagerly and it huffed proudly, landing on the cliffside and crying out a loud roar to the sky. The dragon's blue hide shone in the daylight, red wings unfurled to their maximum span. Majestic.

Sun dragged Gladion the rest of the way across the bridge, surprisingly strong, and Gladion tried and failed to slow him down. "Sun, don't pester it-"

"I won't! Wow, Gladion, isn't it huge?"

"I mean, yeah, but-"

The Pokémon had noticed them approaching and was eyeing them, cautious and wary. Sun blinked. "Gladion, it's looking at us!" He'd slowed down now. "Hi!" Sun exclaimed, and the dragon huffed again, leaping from the cliffside in a serpentine manner and soaring into the distance with all the speed of a fighter jet.

Gladion and Sun were left in the dust, and in awe. "That was cool," Gladion admitted.

"I know a lot about dragons," Sun said happily. He'd forgotten all about Gladion's plan to 'stay the night'.

Gladion thought this would be a good opportunity to let Sun tire himself out of talking and took it. "What do you know about them?"

"Well..."

The walk to the laboratory was two hours. And it wasn't bad. Sun said some interesting things but Gladion mostly tuned out, trying to think of ways to help Sun. Sun didn't seem to be suffering. If Gladion could just make him forget about Lusamine... he didn't interrupt Sun's gushing for fear that Sun might just think of her.

Gladion stopped him outside the lab. "Alright, Sun, I left Type: Null here. You relax, alright? Just wait here and I'll come and get you in a sec."

Gladion walked to the front and knocked on the door, leaving Sun by the side of the lab. Kukui opened the door after some commotion from inside.

"Gladion?" Kukui's greeting smile vanished.

"Yeah, it's me," Gladion nodded. "I've come with a problem, alright? Just listen to what I have to say." He stopped. Kukui looked at him expectantly. Gladion found the words sticking, until they all gushed out at once. "Sun... Sun is alive. Our mother kidnapped him and made him think he was her son-"

"You've lost me. I know things were bad, but..." Kukui's energy, which had been there when he'd opened the door, was now not present. "She- she kidnapped him?"

"Yes. He's here with me, and he can't leave until we get him better. I managed to smuggle him out and get him here, so nobody can see him or else she'll come looking for him." Gladion was glad Kukui both believed him and wasn't instantly talking about going to the authorities. They couldn't do that. It just wouldn't work, Gladion could feel it.

"Where is he?"

Gladion took a step down the wooden staircase and looked for Sun. Sun was wandering toward the tall grass innocently. "Sun!"

Sun acted like he'd been caught in the middle of something embarrassing and dashed back to Gladion. Kukui's reaction was exactly as Gladion expected - shock. Horror. Fear. Even with all these emotions on display, Sun was the one to shrink away, hiding behind Gladion.

"H- Hey, Sun," Kukui greeted, trying to seem upbeat.

Sun didn't speak, just spread his fingers out in a fan in a semi-wave, staying behind Gladion.

"Come in, you two." The moment Gladion stepped over the threshold of the door he was set upon by his own Type: Null.

"Aw - aw - quit it, Null!" Gladion laughed. He pushed Null back, trying to get up, but it kept poking and prodding at him with its iron mask, clumsily keeping Gladion down, knocking him back when Gladion pushed up. Sun stayed close, and tried to help Gladion with Null. Interpreting Sun as a threat, Null lashed out at the stranger - it didn't recognise Sun with his white skin, blonde hair and green eyes. Its claws angrily dashed his wrist, cutting through.

"Agh-" Sun cried and Kukui went to help, but Sun refused to allow him to do so. "Don't-" Sun spurned Kukui and tried to get Gladion's help. Null became more agitated. What was a moment ago a heartwarming reunion was now a scene of carnage. Gladion shoved Null off of him and took Sun's wrist.

"Oh- Sun, let Kukui help us, please," Gladion said and gestured to the professor. "Do you have any restorative gel?"

"Yeah, but not much - we use it for the Pokémon-"

"Kukui, Sun needs this!" Gladion interrupted. Getting Sun to trust him was at the forefront of his thoughts at all times, and fixing Sun up would help to build that trust he sorely needed.

"Yes, Gladion."

Sun's arm was bleeding badly. Gladion scolded Null while trying to keep Sun calm, and noticed something. Null had shredded Sun's white skin completely, but there was another layer beneath, his old colour, darker, stronger.

"Sun-" Gladion began and took part of the white mush off. "Sun, look at this-"

"Gladion, stop it-" Sun panicked, but didn't fight it, knowing his brother was trying to help.

"Sun, it's fake! Your-"

"Gladion, stop!" Sun pushed Gladion away. "I don't - you might be hurting me-"

"Might be?! You know wether or not I'm-"

Kukui interrupted. "You two calm down!" Type: Null was still growling at Sun, and Sun was looking at it with hurt in his eyes. "Hold still, Sun." Kukui spread some of the gel over Sun's arm and the blood clotted, forming scabs. Something else happened too. The fake skin wasn't natural, wasn't living... so it burned away, Sun's right wrist now wholly dark. Sun seemed to realise something himself at long last and took the edge of the membrane that was still wrapped over his hand and began to peel it off like a glove. He wasn't thinking, just doing what felt right. Gladion watched with bated breath. Was Sun on the verge?

Sun finished ripping it free of his body and stared at the loose, sticky fake flesh. "What... Gladion... that's not supposed to happen."

"You're right. It's not. Sun, stay calm." Gladion didn't need to speak. Sun looked to be in a state of pure shock. "I- I'll take him up to the loft." There would be a lot of explaining to do to Kukui - or at least explaining all that he knew for certain. The methods of Sun's transformation were still unknown to him.

Sun was willing to follow Gladion, and Null now looked apologetic for its attack on Sun, nuzzling his heel. The two climbed up the ladder silently, leaving Kukui to wonder what exactly had happened - and more importantly how far the Foundation would be willing to go to get Sun back.

* * *

Gladion had spoken to Kukui. Told him all he knew. Kukui had the technology to do some rudimentary work with Sun to identify a problem. If they knew what was wrong, they'd know what to fix. He climbed up the ladder to the loft, lost in his own thoughts.

Null was pawing below the sofa bed hesitantly, looking ashamed. Sun was nowhere to be seen and Gladion worried if he'd lost him for one brief moment before he thought that maybe Type: Null was trying to get to Sun. Gladion checked and sure enough Sun was curled up in the space below the extended sofa bed, facing away from the synthetic Pokémon and its partner.

"Sun?" Gladion made his voice gentle.

"Gladion, I can't go back like this. I can't."

"Sun, it'll be okay."

"No. Mother won't want me like this."

"Sun, don't you think something's wrong?"

"Of course I do."

"I mean," Gladion paused, "most people's skin doesn't just peel off."

"I know that."

"Sun, you're not my damn brother."

"Mother said you were a liar, Gladion. That you'd hurt me. You took me here to hurt me where mother couldn't help me." Sun's voice was accusing, and Gladion cursed his own lack of patience. He shouldn't have said that to Sun.

"Sun... Kukui will fix your skin. Then we'll go back to the Paradise, I promise."

"Leave me alone. I'll stay here, right here, until I die. I can't go back to mother and I don't want to speak to you, Gladion."

While his words were harsh, there was the old Sun among them. His stubbornness and willpower. The willpower Lusamine had found a way to break, turn against Lillie and Gladion, and the stubbornness, but not enough of it to latch onto reality.

"Sun. What about Lillie? We can't leave her by herself." Lillie's presence hung in the air. The sofa bed that she had made her home on for three months, the one that Sun currently lay beneath, felt like a stand-in for her, a conduit for her observation of the conversation.

"Lillie," Sun repeated. "Lillie. Gladion!" Sun squirmed out from under the sofa, the gap not enough for him to turn below it - it was a miracle he had fit under in the first place. "Gladion, I remember! We have to save Lillie! We have to get to the Aether Paradise and get Nebby and-"

Sun saw Nebby, sleeping on top of the sofa bed. The Cosmog had previously been hovering around Kukui before they arrived, and had hid at the sound of the commotion. Now it had come up to relax and snooze.

"Neb- Nebby-" Sun stuttered, shaking uncontrollably. Gladion took his shoulders and shook Sun back and forth.

"Stay with me, Sun! Sun, you've gotta focus-"

"A Cosmog! I've never seen one before!"

Gladion had lost him again. He wanted to throw something, wanted to scream at the unfairness of it. Why was Sun taken away from him when he was so close? Why was his mother allowed to possess Sun like a doll to do with whatever she wanted?

"Sun?"

Sun had forgotten his earlier spat with Gladion already. He was mesmerised by Nebby's gaseous form, locked inside the golden ring that contained the solid matter of its tiny body. Sun wanted to touch it, but didn't want to wake it. "Gladion... it's so pretty..."

"Sun, Kukui's going to check you up, okay?"

"Huh?" Sun wasn't listening.

"Come on," Gladion grumbled.

* * *

Kukui said he had good news and bad news.

"Sun's brain has... problems. There are areas which are wholly dark... like he can't access anything inside. It's a miracle he can still think straight. This was done intentionally."

Gladion sighed. "And the good news?"

"That was the good news," Kukui said, his face grim. Gladion's expression fell further into defeat. "The bad news is, some of the dark areas are becoming active again. He's overwriting his old memories. If he ain't fixed soon then he might forget everything anyway, or his reality might be twisted." The lack of happiness, of hope in Kukui's words struck Gladion. Kukui was like Hau in some respects - almost insufferably exuberant. Now though any idea of normality was gone. End times.

Gladion buried his head in his hands. "Can he be fixed?"

"Gladion... I don't think so."

Gladion hadn't cried in a long, long time. Not out of emotion, anyway. Pain perhaps, but not raw emotion. The knowledge that Sun, one of the strongest, happiest individuals he had ever met might be gone forever soon was enough to make that happen.

The tears were hot and borne of shaking eyelids, running down a pale face and into a sobbing mouth. They tasted of the sea.


	25. 453411SE

Lillie had spent the rest of the day laying low and tending to the damage Lusamine had done to her body. With any luck, Gladion and Sun would be far away soon, and they'd find a way to get the word out to her. She'd see Nebby again. Sun would be himself, and she'd finally get the chance to touch him again, hold his hand, maybe kiss him... she hugged herself, filled with warmth at the thought.

His lips against hers. His hands travelling her body, holding her in an unyielding grasp, protecting her as she protected him, his swept black hair making her forehead tingle with its scattered contact, her green eyes reflected in his blue.

Faba thought it was possible to fix him. That was all she needed to know to fantasise about Sun, about his bare dark skin against her light, the two of them sharing moments in the dark that her mother would burn with jealousy to see - it gave Lillie a sort of glee to think about it.

Arceus, she wanted him. A craving, a need. She was beginning to tingle in a way most unusual - not the way that her mother's attacks made her feel a bubbly sickness, but a purer sensation in the same category, if that was at all possible. Her inner thighs growing wet with anticipation, she lowered her hand, trembling as she began to play with herself.

She was completely slick without even knowing it, her fingers sticky with her love in moments. She trembled as she tried to suppress the growing animate sensation, like an earthquake shaking apart all she knew. Sun - wasn't - an - object. She had to resist this. But she still wanted to keep him on a leash if necessary, anything to stop him from vanishing again. She had to _**protect-**  
_  
It was her mother's influence, she rationalised. It was rotting her soul too. Lillie was jealous, she knew that and would willingly admit it, but she'd never act on such possessive urges... would she? Sun in her lap. Sun, her pet. He was just a little younger than her, so-

 _LILLIE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!  
_  
She shook the thoughts away, her face red, knuckles of her free hand pressed to her lips as she continued to stroke herself below her dress. "Oh... oh- Ar- Arceus..." A shot of will came to her and she ceased, gasping, trying to get a hold of herself.

He'd trust her and she didn't even need to do anything to him to achieve it. Distract Gladion and have her way-

 _NO. YOU ARE NOT LIKE HER._

 _ **You are just like her.  
**_  
This- this wasn't her thinking, was it? Wasn't her having these horrible ideas? Was it the machine that Lusamine had used to convert Sun? Some sort of mind control signal? Lillie felt oncoming paranoia, standing for no reason from where she had been sitting on her bed. Or was it- it couldn't be-

"Oh no... I'm-" There was something horribly wrong with her. She was becoming just like Lusamine. Was it her head playing tricks on her or was the machine already in use, her as its target? She covered her ears and dropped to her knees. "Oh, no, oh, no, no, no..." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, so tight she saw bright lights, strange colours. "I won't be like you," she guaranteed to nothing, to no audience. "I won't."

* * *

Sun opened and closed his hand. "Gladion, I don't know why I'm like this. I'm falling apart. Am I going to die?" Sun's question was asked carefully, and Gladion could tell Sun was afraid - he wished Lillie was there instead of him. She'd know what to say, what to do.

"No, Sun, you won't die. In fact, that colour suits you."

"Humans don't normally change colour though, Gladion. Am I a shiny human?"

Gladion laughed. "No, don't be silly. I can't explain it." He reached out for Sun's hand and Sun gently lay his over Gladion's for him to observe.

"Do you think mother will be upset?"

"I don't know, Sun. I guess it depends." Gladion wanted to say something more reassuring but didn't want to lie outright either. "Hey!" Gladion added as Nebby soared an inch away from his nose, the Cosmog performing an orbit around their heads, occasionally swinging between them to squeal with delight.

Type: Null had been introduced to the other two specimens and the meeting had gone as well as Gladion could have hoped. The three rested down the ladder, in the basement laboratory where Kukui was checking for any differences they may have between them. Null had been very sweet toward Sun after its initial angry outburst, and Sun had forgiven it.

Something was on Gladion's mind though. The restorative gel had burned off Sun's fake skin. Removing it all might be easier than first expected. He just had to convince Sun that it'd be a good thing.

"Sun, maybe mother will like you more if you..." Gladion couldn't finish the sentence. The amount of lies he'd been forced to live. He ran his thumb back and forth over the back of Sun's hand, dark against light. "Sun, me and Lillie will both look out for you no matter what. No matter how it looks. We just want you to be safe."

They'd need to leave soon, once Kukui had decided if Sun could or couldn't be saved. As long as they made it off Alola they were at least safe from Lusamine. "Thanks, Gladion," Sun replied. He hugged Gladion, a little awkwardly as they were still hand in hand. "I just don't want mother to leave me."

"Why do you love her so much? You saw what she did to me, to Lillie," Gladion argued. He needed to get through to Sun that Lusamine was not a force for good. "Sun, I'm sorry, but she doesn't care about us. We're just... playthings."

"No," Sun replied, somewhat boisterous in his tone. "Mother loves me."

"Sun, please just hear me out. She won't care about you forever. She made Null, she's tortured Nebby," Gladion said and gestured to the Cosmog, which hadn't recognised Sun at all - nor had Sun recognised it.

"But- But Faba made Type: Null, and I've never seen this Cosmog before, and I've been with mother all my life-"

"-Sun, she lied. She lied because she wants you to help her. Faba made Type: Null with mother's permission, out of my damn Pokémon, Sun!" Gladion had to make Sun understand. He hadn't meant to raise his voice. He'd been trying to stay calm.

"She told me you'd lie to me. You're lying."

"I'm telling the truth! Sun, you know that I'm-"

"La, la, la-" Sun covered his ears with his hands suddenly, and Nebby joined in with his nattering.

"Pew, pew, pew-" Nebby sung.

Gladion shook his head. "Sun, for fuck's sake..."

"You're lying," Sun told him. "You're lying," he repeated, hands still covering his ears.

"Why do you trust her so much?" Gladion knew Sun could hear him.

"Because I love her and she loves me."

Sun's voice, Sun's face, Sun's words. Gladion was enraged by it all. "She doesn't care about you, or me!"

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Sun screamed, and Gladion was taken aback by Sun's sudden aggression, shoving Gladion back against the sofa bed. "Don't talk about her like that!"

Gladion's expression was stormy. He wasn't getting through. Nebby finally picked up on the tension and fell silent, previously squealing with delight at Sun's antics. "Sun, you're wrong. Not me."

Sun shoved him again, more because he had nothing else to retort with. Gladion must be lying. Trying to get him to turn on their wonderful mother. Sun wouldn't allow that. He wanted so badly to be good for her, to reciprocate all the love she had for him in full. But coming here... he glanced at his arm, where his skin had been torn off. It had made him imperfect, damaged.

"Sun. She really ruined you, didn't she?" Sun wanted to shove him yet again but Gladion pushed back, standing up. Sun got up very close to Gladion, his eyes sharp and mouth a thin, irritated line.

"Gladion, I'm going to go back to the Paradise. We have all three Type: Null, and all you're doing now is have that - that _Kukui_ poke at me. You want to hurt me." A moment ago Gladion had been able to assure Sun that wasn't the case, but that seemed distant now. He'd let his temper get out of hand again.

"Sun-" Gladion tried to calm down, but his stomach lurched as Sun took his shoulders and roughly moved him aside, in front of the ladder. "Sun, listen to-"

Sun gritted his teeth and punched Gladion across the cheek. _Hard._ Gladion put his hand against his own face, over the point of impact, shocked. Sun would have never-

Sun punched him again, and now Gladion tried to retaliate, restrain Sun, but it was too late. Sun punched him a third time, in the same place all three times, ignoring Gladion's fingers. The boy in black collapsed to his knees at the top of the ladder and the one in white placed his foot against the other's sternum, gently pushing him backward off of the raised platform where he was sent crashing to the ground. Gladion lay there, immobile as Sun dauntlessly climbed down the ladder and landed beside him.

"You alright up there, guys?" Kukui asked from the basement in response to the noise. Gladion saw a flash of something in Sun he'd only ever seen in his mother's eyes before.

"Yes, Kukui. I'm fine. I'm taking the Type: Null and leaving." Sun was loud enough for Kukui to hear, but he wasn't shouting. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Gladion, who was trying to sit up. Sun kicked him violently, shoe connecting with Gladion's forehead. Gladion fell back.

"Sun, are you- I think you should ask Glad-"

"I think I shouldn't," Sun cut Kukui off. He glared at Gladion. "You brought me here to hurt me," he condemned. He raised his foot over Gladion's face, and instead of stamping immediately, trod on it softly. Gradually applying more and more pressure until Gladion thought his skull would break in two.

Satisfied, Sun took the crushing force away, and turned to go down to the basement and take the Type: Null from Kukui. Gladion prayed that Kukui would have common sense and stop him even as the throbbing pain threatened to consume him. "Sun..." he croaked.

Sun ignored him and descended to Kukui, Gladion unable to make out the words, clinging to consciousness. The voices grew louder, and then Sun started screaming, bellowing with fury, and the words became too clear. "I WON'T STAY HERE! I NEED MY MOTHER!"

Kukui replied.

"DON'T LIE! I'LL HURT YOU! I WILL!"

There was a sound and Sun shrieked with a fury that'd make Lusamine proud. "STOP! WHAT ARE YOU-" he fell silent.

Gladion shut his eyes. He'd rest them for a few moments, assuming Kukui had won whatever struggle they had fought. "Gladion?!" Kukui called. "Gladion, are you okay?"

Gladion couldn't reply. His hearing was blacking out. He edged his eyes open and saw Kukui climbing the stairs, Sun nowhere to be seen. Like that, darkness. Silence. Sleep.

* * *

Lusamine had Guzma right back on it. Very specific instructions. If a hair on Sun's head was harmed, she'd tear Guzma's throat out and force him to eat it.

It had been an entire _day_ without Sun. She was on edge, had attacked Lillie to get what she wanted, had Faba working on a permanent solution to Sun's degenerative problems and everything was going according to plan - except Sun being far away from herself. Maybe she should have him tied to her, make that collar useful as more than just an ornament.

She wouldn't blame her little boy. He was led astray by Gladion, and that was not his fault. She'd tried to warn him, but he'd learn himself that Gladion was a liar and a thief and all manner of other harmful influences. When he was back in her arms she'd lavish him with praise. His faith in her would not be shaken by Gladion's falsehoods, she was certain.

She prayed. To whatever may be listening. "Bring him home safe." She didn't want to lose him. She wasn't attached to him, no, she assured herself. It was just a want. She'd always 'wanted' Sun. Wanted him all to herself. A prize. "I am invincible," she whispered to herself. "Nobody can challenge me." As she spoke the words, she felt a primal force surge in her, familiar, almost a friend in times like these. She felt it grip her and pull away her barriers, make her lesser and more.

When Sun was back she'd give all she had to him. He needed to know how important he was. And he couldn't be tricked again; not by that devious, scheming rat Gladion, nor by that false, pathetic insect Lillie.

He needed to show them the light, and she'd teach him to do that by force.

She allowed herself to reflect. Sun had come to this place at first as a guest, then as an enemy, and had been made family. Such a sweet story. It warmed her heart. She couldn't wait to find out how it ended.

* * *

Gladion woke on the sofa bed, a bandage over his forehead and pillows cushioning his back. He tried to sit and was crippled with pain, gasping. "Ngh-" he grunted as the stabbing feeling came and went.

"Gladion?" It was Kukui.

"Yeah?" Gladion turned his head and saw Kukui was sitting in the loft area with him. "W-Where is Sun?"

"He's sleeping. I tied him to a chair. I didn't have a choice."

"How'd you knock him out?"

"Thank goodness I research Pokémon moves, yeah? I had some Sleep Powder, you know, that... causes sleep? Just had to toss it over him and it did the rest... don't have any more though." Kukui looked pale. Gladion could sense the direction their conversation would take from Kukui's darting eyes behind his glasses, hands on his knees uncomfortably.

"Kukui..."

"Gladion, you can't keep him here. We need to call the police. He's a danger to you and to me. What your mother did to him is terrible, yeah, but I can't fix him if he won't let me try to help and lashes out at you." Kukui's expression was stern for the first time.

"Nobody is going to believe us. Nobody! And if they do, my mother has the money and the influence to twist it. She wants him back, badly," Gladion argued. This was the only relatively safe place in the region for Sun.

"Gladion, I've got a boy tied up in my basement, three chimeras sleeping on my sofa and a excitable ball of spacial matter to deal with all at once. People will come for all of them. You're lucky Burnet's on Akala island right now, if she were here she'd have gone for help instantly."

"And why didn't you?"

"I know how risky it'll be too. He looks like your family. Wait- he looks like- I've got it!" Kukui cheered. "I've still got the documents for his Trainer Passport! Maybe if he sees all that it'll help him recover, if we can get through the dark zones in his brain."

Gladion tried to sit up again, given energy by the proposal. There was a definite chance that would work. Pain shot up his spine again and he fell back down onto the sofa bed. Kukui was clambering down the ladder, shouting up to Gladion. "Now, even if your mother was able to erase his records from the system, I still have the bare bones forms they had to fill in to move here..." There was a pause as Gladion heard Kukui rummaging through drawers. "Yeah, here! Sun Elio, Kanto, Viridian City, Trainer Passport Photo enclosed, register 453411SE. Maybe something here will jump his memory."

Gladion felt his throat stick as he tried to speak. He cleared it and tried again. "Wait. Let me talk to him."

Kukui must have head him, because the bustling noises from down the ladder slowed. "You're right. He's more likely to trust you." Gladion felt his throat tighten again and choked on his breath. Kukui was climbing the ladder again, taking all the documents he had found to Gladion. He looked conflicted, brow wrinkled. "Gladion... if this doesn't work..."

Gladion knew. "We have to go, and I have to sort it myself."

"Gladion, I'm sorry but I can't house both of you forever, especially if the Foundation is going to come after you. I'll help organise a way out, but-"

"-We've got a boat, stole it from the dock," Gladion interrupted. He pushed back on the bed so that he was propped up against the armrest of the sofa, allowing him to sit up properly. "Here," Gladion demanded and held out his hand to take Sun's papers from Kukui.

He flicked through them, nothing of interest jumping out at him... except the Trainer Passport Photo. It was Sun. It hadn't been that long, but Gladion was already subconsciously allowing Sun's face to fade from his memory.

He wished that he had brought Lillie, that they were all together, but it was important to stall their mother. Any kind of lead was important in this race. If it was Gladion who was brainwashed and changed, Sun could have already worked out a way to get through to him, Gladion was sure.

He'd been told so often he was pathetic, wasn't worth it, couldn't do it, wouldn't get it. He had a chance now to prove otherwise. "Help me up."

"You sure you want to see him in this state?" Kukui questioned. "He's still dangerous."

"I'll handle him."

Kukui looked nonplussed, emotionally absent. "Alright, Gladion." He carefully moved Gladion into an upright position, knowing that the pain from the fall and Sun's attack would still be intense. Gladion winced, but was able to stand by himself, breathing deeply.

"If this doesn't work, nothing will."

* * *

Sun was stirred into wakefulness and immediately strained against his ties - a rudimentary mixture of rope and duct tape. "Let me go! Stop hurting me, and _let me go back to my mother!"_ He was moving like an animal, violently shaking, snapping at the air with deranged spasms.

"Sun Elio," Gladion began, and Sun jerked so far that his chair tipped over and he landed on his side, still spitting and shrieking. Neither Gladion or Kukui chose to help him back up. "Four-five-three, four-eleven SE," Gladion read Sun's Trainer ID.

Sun stopped. "What?"

Gladion's heart began to race. "Four-five-three, four-eleven SE." Did he dare to believe?

"Four five three four eleven SE," Sun repeated. "Four five three four eleven SE. Four five three four eleven SE." It was a part of Sun's identity that had been missed in the erasure process. His Trainer Card had been disposed of without a second thought upon his capture, so they had no means of cutting out the memory without knowing it themselves.

"Sun?"

"Gladion- Gladion- its you! Kukui- oh my- you- you saved me..." Sun looked relieved, and relaxed on his side, Gladion rushing over despite his bruises and aches.

"Sun," he breathed, and Gladion's own relief was palpable. He'd done it. Found the way. "Four five three four eleven SE," Gladion repeated and Sun's true smile reappeared for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Hopefully it really was a lifetime, and that was the death of Aether Sun for good.

"Four five three four eleven SE," Sun replied. Every repetition helped him cling to the few ideas he had. Gladion wasn't his brother. Lusamine wasn't his mother. He'd been kidnapped and tortured. That was about all.

Gladion got to untying him, overjoyed. "Sun, I was thinking we'd never get you back," he admitted, flooded with happiness. "We just need to get Lillie and then get out of here! We've done it Sun, we're free!"

The celebration was cut short by an angry rap on the door and a familiar, grating voice. "Open up, Prof! Me and the gang know you got 'em here, so hand 'em over!"  
"Guzma," Kukui said. "He found us."

"How?" Gladion felt his victory slipping, so shortly after he'd achieved it. "Lillie wouldn't have talked, would she?" He stuffed the papers in his hoodie pocket. He'd need them.

"I don't know," Kukui replied and helped untie Sun. "Take the Nulls and Nebby. I'll stall them, yeah? You guys climb out of the loft window and sneak around them."

"Sun, stick close. I'm not losing you again." They finished breaking through the last of Sun's bonds with panic instead of the elation they deserved. Kukui recalled all three Type: Null to their Poké Balls, Gladion taking two while Sun grabbed the last one and tucked Nebby under his arm as they rushed up the basement stairs to the loft.

The door rumbled again as Guzma less knocked and more pummeled against it. Gladion forced Sun to climb the ladder first and rapidly followed, as Kukui shouted to the leader of Team Skull. "I'm coming, stop-"

The moment he opened the door Guzma knocked him out with one almighty punch to the skull, grabbing Kukui by the lab coat before he could fall and punching him a few times more. "Always thought you were better than me, huh? Well who's the-" Guzma dropped him and kicked Kukui's prone form, "-bitch now?!"

"Boss!" The shout was all Gladion needed to hear to know they had been spotted - he had released the hatch on the window and Sun was halfway out and onto the roof. He jumped up onto the desk and struggled to pull himself out of the roof window before Guzma could get to them. His hands full with the Type: Null's Poké Balls, he couldn't get a grip on anything and dropped down out of the window frame. Guzma was almost at the peak of the ladder. Sun was out onto the roof.

Sun reached down for him, with his dark hand.

It may have been a sign from Arceus.

Sun was back. He was helping Gladion again. He was escaping Aether. He was at last free.

The thoughts filled Gladion with fire and adrenaline to numb the pain Sun had caused him previously and he jumped a second time, stuffing the Type: Null's Poké Balls in his hoodie beforehand. Sun grabbed his wrist and pulled him up and out.

 _Free.  
_  
Guzma seized Gladion's leg.

 _Not free.  
_  
One tug from the brute was enough to drag Gladion halfway back through the gap, Sun desperately clinging to him. "Gladion-" he begged breathlessly. His strength was faltering, but Sun was begging for something else too he realised. Gladion saw it in his eyes.

"No, Sun, don't-"

"Gladion, what's the number?!" The stress of the situation had worn on Sun and the number he needed to maintain his grip on himself was vanished from his mind. "Gladion, the number-" Guzma gave another pull and nearly brought Gladion all the way through.

"Four five three four eleven SE!"

Too late.

Gladion fell down through the ceiling and back to the loft, where Guzma waited to throw him off the ledge similar to how Sun had. Gladion managed to catch the banister and break his fall, dropping down without landing on his back (even if it felt like he nearly dislocated his arm) - but he was caught by Grunts waiting at the bottom.

"Sun, RUN!"

"Gladion, I-"

"You have to! Just-" A Skull Grunt silenced Gladion with a hand clamped over his mouth. Gladion saw another Grunt throwing gasoline all over the lab, and struggled with so many emotions at once. They were going to destroy Kukui's home and way of life just for housing them. And that was not including Kukui himself if they didn't take him out of the lab before they set it alight.

Sun stayed. Gladion screamed as loudly as he could with the hand over his mouth, jerking violently and begging Sun mentally to escape. Gladion could handle going back to the Paradise, but if Sun returned things would be tenfold worse for him. Lusamine would exert even more effort trying to control him.

"Kid, get back down here!" Guzma yelled at Sun, and Sun still didn't move. "The Prez is real concerned about ya, so I ain't gonna hurt ya, I swear."

Gladion's muffled shouts grew louder. He had to get Sun to leave. He struggled free of the Grunt and in the resulting scuffle as more grabbed for him he managed to shout out to Sun again.

"Go! Now!" One Grunt used their bandana as a makeshift gag while one twisted his arms behind his back. Red hot pain shot through his bones.

"Don't even think about it kid, think how disappointed ya mother's gonna be..." Guzma was being somewhat reasonable; he knew it wasn't true but would go with whatever he was told. It was more interesting that way, and far more entertaining.

"My... my mother." Sun mumbled. "I'll come down."

No. Just the mention of Lusamine had instantly ripped away all of his identity again. Gladion gave a wail of desperation, choked by the gag. Sun climbed back through the window and dropped down onto the loft platform, beside Guzma, who gave him a hearty clap on the back. "Not too hard, huh, kid?"

"Take me back to her," Sun requested, his expression blank, robotic.

Gladion had tears streaming down his red face already, nose running wildly as he shrieked. Sun climbed down the ladder first, Guzma following. "Shut that kid up," Guzma demanded and punched Gladion in the stomach for good measure as the Grunts all got in a quick hit. "We've brought our boat to the bay, jus' outside the lab, so it ain't gonna be a long trip, boys."

"Okay," Sun said, autonomous in inflection and physical action. Gladion was hunched over breathlessly, held up by the Grunts flanking him as they marched the boys outside. Kukui was unceremoniously tossed out the door onto the sand as they set the laboratory ablaze.

Heat engulfed them all as it became an enormous glowing fireball, Sun paying it no mind, still holding Nebby under one arm - it was snuggled against him, excited and naive as usual. Gladion took another breath to scream, and found he couldn't.

He'd failed. They'd failed.

Nowhere to go and nothing to do.

All he had was six numbers and two letters, an override code, and the hope that would be enough.

* * *

The Aether Paradise glowed in Alolan twilight. The facility was operational twenty four hours a day, but it was nighttime when the most blind eyes were turned towards shady acts or shady guests. Both were occurring at the mansion, Lusamine taking her children back from Guzma and thanking him profusely for all his hard work.

"You may be a brute, but you are no failure, nor are you a fool, Guzma," she said as she accepted Sun with open arms, leaning down and kissing him on the cheek as he clutched around her waist and desperately nuzzled her as if trying to completely consume himself in her body. He was so glad to be back. "You performed exactly as requested."

Guzma didn't blush, but he did look very sheepish. "It- it was nothin', miss Prez. Mattera fact, he came well quiet. It was Gladion who kicked up a fuss."

"It usually is," she said, suddenly stern upon having Gladion presented to her as Sun continued to fawn like a child. Gladion still had the gag in his mouth, moist with his spit, and his face told Lusamine the whole story: he'd resisted and paid the heavy price. Sun however was unmarked and that was what mattered.

"Miss Prez," Guzma began, "I think that... that uhh, we should hang out sometime. I think you're uhh, pretty cool." Some of the Team Skull Grunts shot each other looks: it had always been obvious Guzma had something for Lusamine that he didn't for anyone else, probably just because she saw him as more than an idiot with more muscle than brains. Lusamine took Gladion's wrist and tugged him to her side aggressively, Gladion stumbling.

"Oh, Guzma, if you continue to perform this well, I should have no choice but to agree! But as you know, I am a busy woman, and these two need my... attention." Lusamine brushing Guzma off wasn't new, but she always did it in a way that could make him hopeful. Gladion was feebly making attempts to escape her grip. "But know that your efforts are very much appreciated by me. In fact... If you want, you may stay the night here."

As she spoke she noticed Nebby, who had abandoned Sun and hidden behind Guzma the moment Sun crossed to her side. Guzma followed her gaze and saw the Cosmog, taking it by the golden ring encircling its gaseous body and tossing it at Lusamine as if it was a ball. "Almos' forgot about that one."

Lusamine caught Nebby and held it gently in her hands, ecstatic. She could hide the electricity in her body but she couldn't even hope to hide her smile. "Thank you, Guzma."  
"Uh, yeah," Guzma said, scratching the back of his neck and trying not to look too proud at her smile. "Yeah, we'll stay here, right guys?"

"Boss, I gotta feed my-"

 _"SHUT UP!"  
_  
Lusamine laughed lightly at Guzma's outburst, Gladion flinched and Sun was so absorbed in his adoptive mother he didn't even hear it. "I'll call Wicke to find you a spare employee quarters, and maybe we'll talk in the morning, Guzma."

Now Guzma couldn't help it - he smirked with pride. "Yes ma'am!"

"Please, in the meantime, come inside," she invited them into her mansion, dragging Gladion and Nebby while Sun stuck to her like glue. "I don't want you to be left out in the cold, now."

"Actually, my boys and girls are mad messy, so if ya don't mind we'll wait around out here." Lusamine was surprised - respect for respect. "Ay, miss Prez, we in Alola. It's warm enough out here for me." Guzma put his hands in his pockets and slouched a little less. He was right - even midnight in Alola wasn't awfully chilly. "You take care of them lot."

"Thank you, Guzma," Lusamine appreciated his concern. She shut the door slowly, making sure to maintain eye contact with Guzma as she did so. It was important to let him think he had a chance of something.

* * *

"Boss... she's bad news."

 _"You what?!"_ Guzma asked the speaker, a scrawny, average Grunt.

"That kid, he's the one who come in Po Town and beat you, right?"

"Tha' never happened!" Guzma denied. "And even if it was that kid and I did get beat, it should prove to ya that she's good news. I couldn' knock him down but she hit 'im so hard he forgot who he was!"

"Well, yeah, boss, but damn, he's fucked up. He din't even struggle, man."

Guzma laughed. "If ya concerned about her doin' that to ya, ya don't need to worry. We're on her side."

"Mr. Guzma?" Guzma's right eyebrow raised comedically as he realised he'd been snuck up on. It was Wicke. "The President has informed me you require accommodation."

"Ya see?" Guzma said to his crew. "Ya see, that's right! _Mr. Guzma._ Sir Guzma. That's the kinda stuff I could get used to!" He gave Wicke an actually genuine smile, with no savagery and no anger. "Jus' show the way, lady!"

* * *

Lusamine took the gag from Gladion, untying it slowly. She and her son locked eyes for a moment, both burning with hatred. Gladion couldn't let her know about the Trainer ID. He couldn't say it now.

Lusamine exhaled very slowly. _"Go,"_ she ordered. Her voice was low, a threat, a curse.

Gladion knew Guzma and the others were still outside, and running without Sun would achieve nothing. He continued to stare, projecting his anger as best he could into her, but he didn't need to be told twice, turning and leaving, up the stairs, limping. Lusamine shut the bars that blocked off the staircases. It had been a while since she had to use them, and had refrained from doing it while Sun was present.

Sun.

He was stood in the centre of the living room, the chandelier casting a beautiful halo of light onto his blond hair. Lusamine saw his arm. His hand was dark again. Guzma had told her ahead of time, but it still hurt to see. She was facing him sideways while he looked at her head on.

Slowly, deliberately, she raised her right arm, the one closest Sun, and presented her hand for him to take, fingers spread in a fan, palm upwards. "Son?"

"Mother."

Gladion's little plot hadn't worked, just as she'd hoped.

* * *

Gladion stumbled into the room he now shared with Lillie and collapsed onto the cold, hard white floor, bursting into tears. Lillie got up from where she had been reading and kneeled by her brother. "Glad- Gladion, when did you get here?" She tried to sit him up to speak to his face but he shook her off irritably.

"I- I couldn't do it... I- I'm- I'm sorry, Lillie... oh... Kukui- we- found out Sun is... he's-" Gladion took a pause, gritting his teeth to hold back his tears for a moment. "He's losing all his memories, Lillie. There's still a chance, but... Lillie, we lost..."

"So- So Sun's here?" Lillie asked. "With you?"

"Y- yeah. But mother... she's taken him away."

Lillie's face darkened, invisible to Gladion who had his face pressed against the ground, eyes screwed shut.

"Gladion... tell me everything that happened. I need to know."


	26. time wasting

Sun knew that he wouldn't be going back to his room. He knew that Gladion had been dismissed so that he and his mother could share some special time together. So he took her hand, feeling her bare skin against his fingers and shivering in delight. He'd been away for too long. He knew it from the gaping hole in his heart that was slowly swelling up again, repairing itself with every millisecond he was allowed to look at her radiance.

She led him toward her room, where he knew he'd be rewarded for his loyalty, for knowing his place where Gladion did not. He didn't even pay attention to his dark arm any longer. His mother had either not noticed or didn't care. He wanted to be closer, pressed up against her, feel her warmth beside him. But no, it was inappropriate at this time to do such a thing. The lights of her room were dimmed, and the air was cold.

She shut the door.

"Sun," she spoke. The single word was encased in honey and sugar and all manner of other sweetness, almost sickly but not quite. She kneeled in front of him, and found herself looking up to him, for anything that told her he was less than perfect.

His beautiful green eyes appraised her similarly, darting over her without cease, taking in all of her. He wanted to be hers. He dropped into a kneel too. He didn't deserve to look down upon her. "Mother..." he begged. He wanted so much from her. He was greedy and selfish and wanted it all.

Lusamine rose, and shut her eyes, smiling. When she opened them Sun was stood again, as she had desired. Believing she had forced him to stand through her actions alone gave her a shot of power, a taste of something she loved so much. "Sun... baby..."

"Mommy," he whined pathetically, nearly crying as he placed his hands on either side of her hourglass waist, feeling her soft hips under his hold. He wanted more. More more more.

"Mmm..." Lusamine bit her lip, trying to control herself: she remembered how she had originally intended to keep him pure and free of all of her sexual advances, but that seemed a distant memory. So much wasted potential that would have been. She placed a finger under his chin, coaxing his head upward to look into her eyes again, exert full possession over his mind.

"M-Mother-" Sun gasped. "You're so- so- beautiful..."

"Come to bed, Sun," she murmured, her lips barely moving; but Sun still watching every change, every slight motion. She moved away from him to her bedside, took off her heels and stripped off her dress, discarding it without a care in the world, allowing Sun to take in the sight of her slender body in her plain white lingerie.

She turned back to him and crossed her arms, tapping her foot in a pattern, patiently waiting. Sun knew that it was his turn and stripped down to his boxer shorts, the segmentation of his arm from dark to light made completely clear. He went to the other side of the bed and they began to pull the curtains around the four poster canopy, finishing together.

When all was done, they lay nearly naked, in a tiny island square shut off from the outside. Dim gold light passed through the beige curtains creating a beautiful filter over everything, capturing the moments of dawn where everything was both glowing and dull.

He lay beside her, Lusamine on her left shoulder, Sun on his right. They were not touching at all. Just observing each other.

With a gradual finality, Lusamine drifted her hand over the sheets with quiet scratching noises, Sun barely able to resist shivering from the sensory nature of the moment. The dim lights and the enclosed space - it felt like the world was a bubble where only the two of them existed. Her hand crept onto his face.

His flesh was so smooth under her fingers, under her feather light touch, gliding her digits over him. He felt good. He felt pure. At the same time though Lusamine wanted to discard all that she had done to make him perfect and force him to experience the full potential of her adoration as himself and not as what she'd made him. Wanted him to be exposed to her purity.

He was melting into her touch, lips barely parted as he breathed steadily and silently. She ran her thumb over those soft lips as she paid attention to them, knowing he'd have no complaint at all. "Mo-" she pressed it a little harder against his lips to shush his moan without speaking.

The hand on his face crept to the apex of his spine and pulled him close. He was so very eager. "Sun, your mother loves you very much."

"I know," he whispered. "I- I'll never trust Gladion again. I-"

"Shush... this isn't about him. This is about you."

Lusamine didn't feel any of the fire, any of the darkness. This wasn't Lillie or Gladion, this was Sun. "My sweet child."

Sun moaned incomprehensibly at her words. He was all she ever wanted and Gladion had proved he wasn't worth it. Lusamine had to get rid of him soon. She didn't care about Gladion, she cared about Sun. Guzma could have ditched Gladion at sea and left him to drown and she wouldn't have batted an eyelid over it.

She shifted herself to be closer, now centimetres away. She had control over him, and only had to take her hand from his back and gesture - folding her fingers into her palm as if beckoning with her whole hand - for him to make up the last of the distance himself.

He duly did, closing the gap and lowering his head against her collarbone, making a quiet purring noise. Lusamine bowed her head and kissed his cheek. He tried to hide his coy smile but couldn't, blushing.

Lusamine breathed his name and Sun looked up at her. Whatever she was going to say vanished from her mind as she saw his eyes up close. "Sun... your eyes are so pretty."

Sun clumsily moved his arm, nowhere near the same deliberate precision Lusamine used to make him helpless to her. His index finger tapped her on the nose, surprising her. "Like yours."

"Just like mine." She fought down a surge of rage that manifested from nowhere, made her want to rip Sun apart with her bare hands. Sun noticed her smile fade.  
"Mother, I'm so glad I look just like you." As he spoke his emerald eyes darted to his dark arm, and he looked ashamed.

"Sun. You're just like me. You don't need to worry about that. That can be fixed," she promised. "I still love you, no matter what." She let go momentarily, moving back along the bed so that she could lie against the headboard, placing her pillow against it and ending up in a half-sit, at a slight angle.

Sun went to follow her, but she had other ideas. She only had to softly encourage him with light touches, and he obeyed her unspoken wants. He lay atop her, facing upward, head resting just below her breasts. She combed through his hair and he visibly struggled to remain still, so cute. "Mmm-" he couldn't stop himself from making the noise. He moved slightly upward so his forehead was now against her cleavage.

She didn't move him away, smirking slightly at his odd mixture of innocence and attraction. Again, cute: she continued to idly comb his hair, going along with the pattern it naturally fell into, swept to the right. She centred her hand over his head and scratched his scalp gently. Sun purred again and pushed back further, much to Lusamine's amusement. She continued to calmly and softly rake her nails in small circles over him.

"Sun, you're my precious little boy," Lusamine told him. "You're mine."

Sun unexpectedly jerked and tried to get up - Lusamine barely managed to keep him in place, moving the hand that had been on his scalp to his shoulder to hold him down. "Sun?"

"I'm not perfect anymore?!" There was fear creeping into his voice and that made Lusamine unhappy. She wanted him to enjoy this, to be able to do what she wanted without Gladion's resistance or Lillie's fear.

"What makes you think that?" She had to put both her hands on his shoulders and hold him down. "Sun, relax, relax-"

"You said precious, not-"

"Sun, shh..." Lusamine understood her mistake. "You're perfect. You are." She had moved her hands around his waist to hold him tighter. "You are, Sun."  
He tried to get up again, much to Lusamine's dismay. "Mother-"

"Sun." She violently jerked him back down onto her, shocking him enough to temporarily get through his confusion. "You're perfect. Relax." She placed her hands over his eyes, her elbows below his shoulders so her arms formed a kind of harness. "Listen to your mother, Sun. You're a good boy. You're a perfect boy. You're mine."  
In the dark, with nothing to latch onto but her words, Sun was at ease again. He stopped trembling and listened. "Sun... my baby boy. Let me calm you." Her fingers began to tap on his face rhythmically and he groaned with pleasure again.

"Mommy." He squirmed a little bit but wasn't trying to escape anymore. "Mommy, I'm your-"

Lusamine placed her hands over his mouth to silence him. "Oh, Sun..." the madness of however long it had been set in. A boy who wasn't hers lying on top of her, covered in her skin and with her eyes and with nothing in his mind but her. She giggled and that became a cackle of crazed emotion before that became a howl of laughter.

"Mommy, are you-"

Her hands had momentarily left his face to take his arms and puppet them - but she wanted him to be silent more than she wanted to move him. She clasped both over his mouth again as her mirth subsided gradually. "Oh... Sun. I hope you're ready for when it's just you and me. No Gladion. No Lillie. Just you and me, forever. You'll be safe with me. You'll be loved by me."

"I love you, mommy." His voice was muffled by her grasp, but she let him speak.

"I love you too, Sun." Lusamine began to pull the covers up over them both, Sun snuggling against her as she did so.

"Mother," he moaned as the soft weight of the duvet pressed from above and Lusamine's smooth bare skin supported him from below. She ensnared him in that comfortable trap, knowing he couldn't hope to think straight. Now he had calmed down and was suppressed by the sheets Lusamine took his wrists again and guided his hands to her hips, making him touch her waist, the apex of her long legs.

"Touch, Sun," she encouraged. "All that you wish."

Sun quaked again, groaning as if he was in agony. It all clicked in that moment.

Lusamine had always wanted a cold, clinical perfection, a mirror image, a flat surface, a block of ice. Sheer and unbreakable, a complete picture. Sun was that. He was a whole thing, unbroken and broken, beautiful and ugly, perfect and awful. And that duality had shown her the beauty in that which was not flat and plain. Even now she allowed that dark hand to touch her because it belonged to the boy who was always meant to be her true son-

-but could he have shown her the truth without it? Would she still have had the same revelation had they all escaped her with the Cosmog? If their paths had crossed again would she see that innocence and barely restrained fury that she sometimes saw existing in tandem? Would she see the sweet wandering and the laser focus if he had never been changed?

There wasn't time to think these things. There wasn't space, not while Sun continued to awkwardly feel her beneath him. She needed to forget the sensuality of the moment and let him do as he wished. Lusamine could feel a cold sweat of fear. She didn't have to do this. If anyone found out that would be the end of all her machinations. Gladion and Lillie deserved better than her. Sun was a horrific abomination because of her, not a perfect child. The doubts and the fears crept and crawled, made her want to shriek and shirk from their claws that threatened to take everything.

"S-Sun," she whispered hastily, unable to stay calm. "Please- please do whatever you want to me. Make me forget, Sun. Make me happy." Letting him take charge would give her the opportunity to focus only on what he was doing and sweep her away from-

-what was he doing? He was just cuddling her. He'd moved off of her chest and was clinging to her waist beside her. _'No, damn it,'_ she thought. The doubts grew louder. She'd raped his mind completely and made him lesser. He couldn't function without her. He was doomed to half a life. The chill deepened, ice forming in the bottom of her spine.

She was evil.

"Sun," she whimpered. Tears were forming, stinging her eyes. She had to look after him. She had to do the best she could for him. "S- Sun-"

"Mother?" He picked up on her distress and eyed her, concerned.

"Please..." she begged of him. Take her away.

"What do you need?" He sounded scared again. He was arching over her, hands on the mattress so he could look down upon Lusamine.

She'd told herself this wouldn't happen. Sun was only an experiment. He was built to hurt Lillie and Gladion, as a proof of concept. He wasn't long term and he wasn't completely perfected, as the removal of the skin on his arm attested. He was created to be her perfect son, but she didn't realise that meant she'd love him.

"You," she breathed in response, voice high pitched from the swelling, bubbling unease. She wanted to touch him but couldn't move. She was helpless as she ever could be. Sun understood at last. He placed his small hands evenly on her waist again, lying flat atop her, now face down against her. He cocked his head slightly to one side, at the same level as hers, and went in to kiss her.

"Mmm-" Lusamine let loose all the pent up adoration she had for him. "Mmm." She kissed him deeply, as she had when he had chosen not to leave her. It felt like it had been years since then - before Faba's machine had been complete and Sun was already willingly taking on the role of her son. That made it all okay. He had wanted this, she was reminded. He hadn't left when he had the chance. Their tongues raping one another, their senses both muted and heightened by the sensuality of the moment, they melted into one another, both dependent. Lusamine wouldn't let him stop. When he tried to withdraw his tongue she licked over it hard and fast, making him tingle with the strange sensation. Their lips smacked against one another and their saliva formed bridges between them that broke as quickly as they came into existence.

Sun was becoming more and more enthusiastic the longer it went on. She could see the almost scary change in his eyes. He was becoming animalistic in just how far down he was reaching to find more love to show her. The fact that everything had worked thus far was a miracle. He had no flaws mentally - he believed he was her son and he loved her with all he was. Lusamine had her reservations at the time, but Faba's technique was worthy of praise.

This was Sun's own monster. His own primal force, awoken by the energy of the moment. He was like her now. Too alike.

Sun squeezed her shoulder as he leaned harder into her, forcing breath from her lungs. Lusamine tried to take some sort of authority over Sun but he was gone too far. He wasn't kissing her lips anymore, he was kissing everywhere, her neck, her jaw, her chest. "Sun-" she began, thinking of how to slow him down. She wasn't scared, or at least didn't think she was. "Sun- oh-"

Lusamine didn't know how to feel or what to do about it. She'd never been in this position. The kind she had the power to put Lillie and Gladion into. The kind she had put Sun into.

She didn't like it.

"Sun, I think-"

He couldn't even hear her over the blood rushing in his skull. There was a loud buzzing of the ruined thoughts, half formed memories that told him not to do it being suppressed by the sheer noise of the obsession he had acquired in his evolution.

He would protect her no matter what. He would love her no matter what. He would touch her no matter what. He would kiss her no matter what. He would be hers and she would be his. Unbidden, what little spark of resistance some remaining chunk of personality could provide became a flame. Four five three four eleven SE. Sun malfunctioned.  
Lusamine had her elbows close to her chest, hands pushing against him, when he stopped scrabbling at her like an animal and went limp. "Sun?" She didn't know what had happened. "Sun? Are you-"

He mumbled something.

"What?"

"You did this to me."

"Did what, Sun?"

"Made me yours."

What was going on now? "Sun, what are you talking about?"

"I want to go home."

Lusamine could feel all the colour drain from her face, goosebumps prickling on her skin. "No, Sun. You want to stay." She raised herself into a sitting position, casting back the covers and laying his idle body in her lap. He was staring at her, bewildered.

"No. I want to go. I want to go _home."  
_  
"Sun. You want to stay."

Sun tried to sit up, and she held him down, brushing her hair back as she did so, trying to restrain him physically if she was unable to mentally block him. "I shouldn't be here. What happened to me?" He didn't recognise her. There was no fear or anger that someone who had been through what he had may carry. He was asking simple questions that he wanted answers to.

"Sun, you're my perfect son." Lusamine didn't know how to handle this. Her whole life was about a battle for control; control of the Foundation, control of her image, control of her children. Illusions sometimes, reality others. Gripping Sun in a clamp, pressing him down as he continually, robotically tried to get up was the only way she could take any sort of control here.

Sun still had a few issues that needed to be resolved after all. Gladion may have done more damage than she thought.

"Please can I get up?" Sun asked politely.

"No. Look at me, Sun." She twisted his head to look directly into her eyes, hands on his soft cheeks. "Look at me. You need to stay."

"Y- yes... I do." A smile crossed his face again. "Mother."

Lusamine exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh, Sun."

He relaxed in her lap and she ran her fingers across his chest gently. He was twitching again at her touch, a sign that the moment of weakness had passed. She lifted him on top of her, lying back and dragging the covers back over them. Leading Sun back into the soft, golden heaven, where he was wrapped in warm, clean bedsheets and illuminated by calm light. Where he clung to his adoptive mother's smooth skin and kissed her velvet lips. Where he was loved and loved in return. Where her hair ticked him as it fell over him, and where everything, not just him, was perfect.

* * *

A noise like a wind chime woke Sun, but it wasn't a natural sound. It kept stuttering and repeating insistently, and it was irritating. He didn't know what the source was, and he didn't want his mother to be disturbed by it - she deserved a rest. Despite his wants, she stirred from her sleep shortly after him, and made a loud tutting in disapproval. "This had better be important," she mumbled, half asleep as she recovered the dress she had cast aside the previous night and slipped it on, forgetting her leggings and her heels, as well as the crystal that normally sat over her chest. Her hair went unstyled and untamed.

"Sun, here please," she asked of him and he quickly got dressed again, leaving his collar off and following her to the mansion's double doors - Sun realised the insistent sound was the doorbell. It must have rung before in his lifetime so why hadn't he recognised it?

He put his body against hers as she reached for the handle and she put her arm around his shoulder instead, the other hand now taking over the objective of the first. The door clicked open. It was the sweaty angry man again, Sun thought.

Guzma smiled at the sight of Lusamine, but his eyes darted to Sun and he looked uncertain. "Uh... morning, miss Prez."

"Guzma, it is... is the sun even up?"

"Yes, mother," Sun said, misinterpreting and mishearing the question. Guzma glanced at the horizon.

"Uh, sorta. You said we'd talk in the morning," he explained. "I'm here."

Lusamine rolled her eyes and her brow furrowed, her expression reading only frustration. "Guzma. I was going to invite you in at a reasonable time. I did not expect you to arrive at my door in the early hours of the-"

"Oh, shit, miss Prez, my bad. My bad." Guzma fumbled his words, not making eye contact. He had some sort of plan coming here this early, and was doing a bad job of hiding it. "Uh, I guess I'll-"

Lusamine didn't have the patience to listen to an apology or an explanation. "Forget it Guzma. Come on through."

Guzma's expression brightened as much as it was possible for it to - there were still creases in his forehead that told of pent up rage, and his smirk wasn't at all subtle. "Ya mind if you... uh, dismiss the kid?"

Sun felt much more awake. He wouldn't refuse to obey his mother if she did demand for him to leave, but he didn't want to. Lusamine's grip on him tightened. "I do mind."

"Oh. Uh, sorry, miss Prez. I, uh, thought..."

"You thought wrong, Guzma." Lusamine had already thrown open the door to her room again, not bothering to wait for their guest. He rushed after them.

"Guzma, I am going to have a shower and dress myself properly. Sun will keep you company while I do so. If you're going to be so rude as to wake me so early, you could show me some patience while I make myself presentable."

Guzma and Sun were both unhappy about the arrangement.

"Mother, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Bad plan, miss Prez."

Guzma and Sun glanced at each other. Sun retreated behind Lusamine. "Be quick, mother," Sun requested, and Lusamine nodded.

"Just wait here," she requested, collecting what she'd wear for the day - an exact replica of what she wore the day before - and retreating into the ensuite.

Sun and Guzma were left in awkward silence. Guzma sat down at the square black table and rapped his fingers on it impatiently. Sun yawned widely and hesitantly sat by Guzma, on the other side of the table.

Guzma eyed Sun curiously. "Ya'll believe it too."

"Huh?" Sun asked.

"Ya believe it. 'Ts crazy." Guzma found himself beginning to develop reservations about working with Lusamine. When the kid had come to Po Town and carved a path through every one of his boys and girls for the sake of a Yungoos, Guzma had wondered how it was possible to beat such a force of nature.

Lusamine had known. Now the kid was a puppet with her hand up his ass. "Believe what?" Sun asked.

"Nuthin," Guzma waved the question away. "How come ya ain't with ya brother 'n sister?" Sun shifted in his seat, blinking away tiredness.

"Mother wanted me to stay with her." Sun yawned again and stretched out as he did so, his bones making a cracking sound. He sighed with contention as he relaxed again. Guzma stifled his own yawn.

"She, uh... she..." The President may be as messed up as Plumeria said she was.

"Mr. Guzma, thank you for bringing me back."

"No- no problem, kid." Guzma appreciated Sun's respect. Mr. Guzma was right. Damn, she'd fixed the kid up good. "I work wit' her a lot so it ain't no thing."

"Cool," Sun replied, but he didn't sound interested. Guzma didn't mind too much, so long as he didn't have to have any awkward conversations with him. "Mr. Guzma, what do you think of my mother?"

Guzma's eyebrows dropped. He was suspicious. "Uh, she's cool." Maybe the kid was passing on everything he said to her. Little creep. "I got respect."

"Okay," Sun replied and rocked back and forth on his chair nervously. He was wondering if Guzma was romantically interested in Lusamine, but didn't voice his concerns. He didn't want Guzma around. They settled into an awkward silence for a length of time, the only sound in the room Sun's chair creaking as he moved. "Are you going to stay?" Sun asked.

"I just wanna talk to the Prez. One to one, ya know?"

"I'm not leaving."

Guzma glared at Sun. "Kid, you're gonna come up with an excuse to leave. I don't care if you're her favourite now or not, you gonna get out or I'll throw ya out."  
Sun glared back. "No."

Guzma stood, launching his chair behind him. It scraped along the floor and toppled onto its back with a clatter as he placed his large hands flat on the table. "Kid. I will smash you to little fuckin' pieces if ya don't listen to me. You aren't gonna stop me again."

Sun didn't even blink, despite how diminutive he was in size to the goliath Guzma. "I'm not leaving unless mother tells me to."

"Kid-"

The door clicked and Lusamine came back through it. She looked between Guzma standing over Sun, at the chair Guzma had knocked aside. Sun beamed at the sight of her. Guzma's enraged expression disappeared, trying to cover his tracks. There wasn't much he could do though, as Lusamine was not easily deceived.

"What are you doing, Guzma?" Her voice was cold as an Avalugg's tread. Invisible frost filled the room and Sun and Guzma both shivered in response.

"I was, uh, jus' talkin' to ya kid here-"

"He said if I didn't leave that he'd smash me to little pieces."

Guzma blanched at Sun's condemning words. "Uh, that's an exaggeration-"

"Guzma. I told you to be very gentle with Sun. I'm very glad he wasn't hurt while you retrieved him," Lusamine stepped over to the table, marginally taller than Guzma in her heels, "but if you dare lay a finger on him in my presence, you'll be my enemy, Guzma. And that's," Lusamine placed her hands on the table as Guzma had previously but there was more poise, an arch in her back so she could glare straight at Guzma, "not a place you want to be."

If anyone else had threatened him like that he would have knocked them out cold right there and then. But the President was alright, he knew. She still knew he was strong, and that was enough. "Fine."

"Apologise to Sun."

"Sorry, kid." Guzma muttered, hardly sincere.

"Pick up your chair. How rude, throwing my furniture around with such contempt." Guzma's early arrival had really done him no favours thus far, and now he was messing up on even more counts.

"Sorry, miss Prez." He did as he was told, not paying mind to either Sun or Lusamine as they watched him right his chair and drag it to the door. "Alright, but what you two looking at?"

"You," Sun replied. Lusamine chuckled lightly. She lifted another chair and placed it close by Sun, so that he could be close to her - and she could be close to him. He shifted his chair a little closer still and leaned against her, eyes shut with contention.

"What did you want, Guzma?" Sun mumbled something unintelligible, even though the question wasn't directed at him. He hooked his arm through Lusamine's and she took his hand, even though it was the dark one. She lay her hand on his head and massaged his scalp as she had the night before.

"I wanna say that I'm here to jus' chat." Lusamine's expression dropped even further. "How early do you have to wake me? For a chat?"

"Listen, miss Prez. I appreciate ya. I do. But I'm thinking you could help my team out even more. Y'all got some strong Pokémon around here. I'm sayin' if you could lend us over a few, we could-"

"Guzma. That's not why you're here."

"Okay, okay!" Guzma put his hand to his face, embarrassed. "Thing is, you said we'd talk - and uh, we're talking now. I thought you'd have something to say."  
Sun mewled as she found a particular spot on his head to scratch, drawing Guzma's attention to him. "Guzma, I wanted to speak to you in private. But I won't dismiss Sun. He needs to be with me for now, until someone else can watch over him."

"What about Lillie and Gladion? Them two?"

"You think I can trust them?" Lusamine hissed. "Gladion took him away. Lillie is a liar. He is not to interact with such _creatures_."

Sun wasn't paying attention, continuing to speak nonsense at the edges of silence. Guzma was truly disturbed by him at this point. "What can't ya say in front of him, huh?"  
"I just don't want him to know all of our business."

"Why not? You got 'im good. Look at 'im, don't even know where he is." Guzma gestured to Sun, who seemed to have somehow fallen back to sleep. "Jus' tell me."  
"Guzma, I think it may be time that we ended our partnership."

"Huh? No, no, miss Prez, there's still a lot we can do for each other!" Guzma sat up straight in his seat, panicking. "Listen, you know what I'm good at. Ya can tell me the word and I'll beat down anyone who gets in ya way!"

"I don't need that anymore, Guzma. I just want you to distance yourself from my company now. You've done a great job delivering what I desire. The Cosmog and Sun. Now I think it's time-"

"Miss Prez, please! You said you wanted the Cosmog for a reason, yeah? You wanted to-"

"Guzma. Hush."

"No, miss Prez, I gotta-"

"Guzma-"

"-LUSAMINE!" Sun was stirred by Guzma's shout. He sat back in his chair fearfully, but upon seeing Lusamine was still by his side he relaxed some. "Ain't no one ever seen me the way you do! Don't tell me to go! Not like everyone else! I ain't tryna get told I'm a piece of shit everywhere I go anymore - jus' keep me on, alright? I ain't gonna wake you this early again, and I won't hurt ya son, I-"

"Guzma, calm down." Lusamine was trying not to laugh at how simple it was to manipulate him. While his early arrival had surprised her the conversation was following exactly as she expected it. "We can still be in contact. I simply have no need for you at this moment in time."

"Miss Prez," Guzma sighed. "I like you, alright."

Lusamine pretended to be flustered, widening her eyes slightly. "You- you-" in fact, it was almost too easy.

"Yeah, miss Prez. Jus', I'll do anythin' ya need."

She avoided his eyes coyly, and also had to hide her amusement at the level of control she had. "I'll... I'll keep it in mind, Guzma. Perhaps I may find use for you yet." He was just another puppet with his strings twined to her fingers. Lillie, Gladion, Faba, Guzma, Sun - all of them were her little troupe of entertainers.

"Alrigh', miss Prez. Jus' so long as we got an understanding here. Jus' give me the word." Guzma looked thoughtful - too thoughtful. Both Sun and Lusamine saw through the act, but Guzma thought he had them fooled. "Ya should come Po Town sometime. Ever since the kid tore-"

Lusamine cleared her throat loudly. Guzma hesitated. "Huh?" Lusamine's face visibly twitched at his idiocy. She shot a glance at Sun, who wasn't paying any attention to Guzma's words. Guzma realised his mistake.

"Oh. Uh, ever since Po Town got, uh, tore up-"

"Guzma, I have no desire to fraternise with your companions." Lusamine ran her hand along Sun's shoulder, massaging it gently, extracting more cute noises from him.  
"Alright, jus' let me talk to ya again later, when the kid ain't around. I think we need ta, like, debrief, yeah?"

"You've wasted my time enough already." Lusamine's touch on Sun became firmer, squeezing yet more hums of satisfaction from him. "Guzma, don't push your luck."  
"Miss Prez-" Guzma was irritated by how much attention she was showing Sun and how little she seemed to care for him.

"-How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?!"

"President Lusamine-"

"-Better," she approved.

"-please. Gimme a chance."

"Guzma. My patience, even for you, is not infinite."

"Fine!" Guzma threw up his hands in the air and his chair scraped along the ground as he stood. "Fine, I'll let ya be, if that's what ya want."

"Thank you, Guzma. If I decide I want to speak with you, I'll send someone for you later." Lusamine leaned back in her chair elegantly, trying to hide a smirk. She'd call for him later and he'd thank his lucky stars. Then she could explain to him what she wanted him to do next without Sun to pick up on the exploitation and stealing of Pokémon they were in the business of.

Guzma left. He dipped his hands deep into his coat's pockets and slouched his way out of the room, and out of the mansion, rubbing the back of his neck. "That coulda gone better."

Sun and Lusamine were left alone again. "You're manipulating him, aren't you?" Sun's voice was low and even held a level of arrogance. He continued to be unpredictable.  
Lusamine at first thought it was the original Sun speaking, but a look at him and his loving gaze told her he was just perceptive of her methods, far more so than Guzma. "Yes, Sun, I am."

"You're very clever," he applauded. Lusamine appreciated the compliment far more than what it was worth, kissing him on the forehead and making him blush. "He'll do whatever you say."

"Yes, he will," Lusamine couldn't keep a straight face any longer as she spoke. Guzma wasn't the only one being controlled.

"Can I go back to sleep?" Sun asked.

"Yes, Sun."

"Will you come with me?"

"No, Sun." There was little point in getting ready for the day then going back to bed.

"Can I stay up?"

Lusamine laughed. "Yes, Sun." How sweet.

* * *

Lillie and Gladion hadn't slept. Gladion had been describing the whole journey to Lillie, every time that Sun had showed any of his past self and every time Sun had gone too far into the fantasy. Lillie's expression hadn't changed once. It was unusual. Even when Gladion mentioned the destruction of Kukui's lab she continued to look impassive.

"The code. What is it?" Lillie asked finally.

"Four five three, four eleven SE," Gladion replied, reading from the documents he'd managed to keep hidden. "And here." There were a few photos intended to be used with Sun's Trainer Passport, of him before he changed - Gladion passed one to Lillie. "I thought you might... might want it."

Lillie's hands didn't shake, she didn't smile and she didn't cry. She took it. "Sun... I'll help you. I will."

"We'll help him," Gladion reminded her.

"Yeah." She wasn't listening. "I'll help him." Gladion was concerned for her. He knew Sun had meant a lot to her, but only time would tell just how far she'd go to get him back. "Gladion, I've been busy. I should mention... I've managed to reach out to someone."

"What do you mean?" Gladion asked carefully.

"Faba."

"What?!" Gladion jolted, shaking his head. "No, you can't-"

"It's fine. His position is in peril, so he'll do anything to save it, including help us." Lillie brushed aside Gladion's protests. "I'll handle him."

"How are you going to- you know that he tried to get me, Sun and Hau captured when we came back for you, right? He could have turned us all into what Sun is now!" Gladion couldn't believe Lillie had done that without consulting him first.

"I'll take care of it. We're working on fixing him behind her back, but the code will help."

"The code? Lillie, that's his trainer ID. It's a part of his-"

"That is a password to get around what mother has done, no more and no less." Lillie wasn't going to mess with any specifics. She was going to stop at nothing now.

Whatever Gladion thought of her plans, the allies she made, she didn't care - and she already had ideas of how to use this new weapon.


	27. Let's play pretend, anything at all

In the days following, Gladion kept to himself. He knew that Lusamine would be enraged by his betrayal and that she'd seek vengeance for it. Not pushing that any further was very important, and he'd made sure to get it through to Lillie to not use Sun's Trainer ID for anything until things had calmed down somewhat.

Lillie was worrying him. She was numb. Every tiny, petty kick Lusamine threw at her in conversation between the family now bounced off with no effect at all, whether they be comments on Sun's example for them to follow or the mention of Nebby being in her hands again.

Sun was still the new and debatably improved Sun. Any thoughts that 'Aether' Sun had died at Kukui's lab were extinguished by Sun's current mindset. He ignored Gladion whenever he spoke and wouldn't let his 'brother' touch him at all, threatening to inform Lusamine if he ever tried to get through to him. Sun remained perfectly amicable and pleasant around Lillie however, but he was never allowed to be alone with her.

Wicke was defaulting to her position as the minder of the children while Lusamine handled the Foundation and Team Skull both. Sun was surprisingly complacent with this arrangement and had no complaints when forced from Lusamine's side, just a look of disappointment.

Gladion was thankful that Wicke cared so much about all of them, often taking him aside and apologising for how little she could do for them all. She'd explained her stance. The damage had been done to Sun, and she didn't know how to fix it, but he was still a human and deserved to be treated like any other. She'd follow along with the lie until it was clear Sun was suffering, then she'd refuse to play party with it any longer.

And Lusamine... his mother was a terror. She had Sun. She had Nebby. She had Team Skull under her control, even though they had been dismissed from the Foundation: Gladion had no illusions she couldn't call them back whenever. Guzma was completely smitten by her so long as she massaged his ego, and worse, it was only a matter of time before she'd try to open the Ultra Wormhole again. Sun wouldn't try and stop her. And that could be the end of the world. There was one tiny sliver of hope: Sun adored Nebby, such a rare Pokémon a thing of great interest to him. Nebby, in turn, was still attached to Lillie and afraid of Lusamine, creating a battle for Sun's attention.

That was all about to change though.

* * *

The first rumblings came when Lillie had wandered into his room one day and discovered more plans he had created. She'd shown them to Gladion but neither could decipher what it was. She also refused to answer Gladion when he questioned why she had gone into Sun's room in the first place. It wasn't too important, Gladion had decided, and dropped the matter. They researched all they could on what they could comprehend, and turned up empty handed.

Nebby had also mysteriously vanished. Lillie was worried for Nebby's safety given the Cosmog's past treatment. Of course, the two could connect the dots, but didn't want to believe what was happening - Sun was _helping_ Lusamine open the portal, using Nebby.

"We need to get through to Sun. Ask him what's going on." Gladion was reaching the end of his tether. Any longer in this madhouse and he'd go crazy. "We can still-"

"Gladion, let me take care of it. He doesn't trust you, he trusts me, so he shouldn't hear a thing about it from you." Lillie's words were unusually sharp.

"What's gotten into you?" Gladion rounded on his sister, pointing accusingly. "Why are you so short all of a sudden? Have you given up?"

 _"Given up?!"_ Lillie looked furious. "I'm the only one trying! You just mope and act like you're doing things! I found the plans!" She was shorter than him but seemed to overshadow him in her fury. "You ended up back here, not me!"

"And whose fault was that?! You told her where we were going. It doesn't make any damn sense how they found us so fast, no sense at all!"

"You should have left the lab the moment you had all three Type: Nulls and Nebby! Why did you stay there? Sun can't be fixed by anyone but us-"

"-oh, what makes you say that? Thinking of keeping him for yourself?" Gladion's prediction made Lillie blush. "Kukui's a scientist, Lillie. He was the best chance we had, and he figured out more than we ever could through trial and error conversations with that thing that calls itself Sun!" His rant was followed by an oppressive silence. He didn't regret what he'd said. "We can't do it alone."

Lillie had her arms crossed and was looking so irritated Gladion was afraid she may hit him. "Gladion, I want him back more than anything." The irritation broke into sadness, like a burst dam. "Sun was my best friend. Sun was so... so nice. He was so happy. He loved everything. I'll do anything to get him back, Gladion. Anything at all."

"I don't know how to-"

"Of course you don't," Lillie interrupted sharply. "And that's fine. I'll work out a way." She shook her head. "Do you want to know why I told her where you were going?"

"Oh, so you did tell-"

"-she threatened to make me," Lillie said, her voice a low hiss, "like _him._ And she can do it too."

"Did she say how?" Gladion asked.

"Of course not," Lillie swatted away his question. "She only mentioned a machine."

"So this machine must have turned the areas of Sun's brain dark, like Kukui was saying. Must've shut him down-" Gladion was talking to himself, Lillie had stormed out to return the plans to Sun's desk so they weren't caught with them. She wouldn't hear Gladion break it down in a fashion so emotionless. She couldn't think about it. Lillie slammed the paper down with a ferocious smack, inner turmoil wracking her mentality. Sun wasn't her mother's pet! Sun was-

"Lillie?"

He'd come in without her noticing - either that or she'd brushed past him without even knowing. She faced Sun, still angry, but beginning to blush. "Oh... Sun." She wanted to hug him, hold him tight and hope that alone would be enough to make him remember. He was staring between her and his desk, his eyes flitting uncertainly. "You're very smart. I can't understand any of that." She gestured to the plans. Sun smiled and cocked his head to one side, pleased with himself. The light from the large window was catching flecks of dust which glittered in the room, surrounding him. Lillie was stood facing away from the light and in partial shadow.

"Why are you in my room?" he asked her, very kindly.

"Um..." If she was caught with Sun then Lusamine would punish her accordingly. "I..." She wanted to be with him. Maybe she could see something to give her hope. Just a little piece of him. She had sworn to not use his Trainer ID unless they had a plan, but that promise was quickly being forgotten. "I just wanted to speak to you."  
Sun scattered the shining dust in his wake as he marched to her side. He was very close, as he always tended to be, perhaps more than was comfortable - but Lillie still felt safe near him, even with his new form. He hesitated. "I'm not sure if we should..."

"I just wanted to talk, Sun. That's all." Lillie couldn't meet his eyes. "Is that... is that okay?"

"Gladion's not coming in, is he?" Sun glanced to the door. "I don't want to-"

"No, he's not listening, and he's not going to come in, okay? It's just-" Lillie masked a shiver of something approaching nausea, but it wasn't an unpleasant kind. "It's just- just us."

Sun looked much calmer now. "What is it?"

"Sun... you're-" Lillie couldn't speak. "Sun-" she hugged him very tightly, and Sun returned her affection. "Sun, you're-"

"What?" Sun asked, his voice in Lillie's ear. She bit her lip and her fingers dug into his back, putting her head into the crook of his neck, her blonde hair falling down his chest.  
 _'Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it, don't-'  
_  
"Fou-" Lillie stopped herself. She couldn't say it, she wouldn't know what Sun would think. "Sun, do you ever..." she couldn't continue.

"Ever what?" Sun noticed a stray hair on her cheek and brushed it aside. "Do I ever-"

"Sun," Lillie was nearly begging. "Sun. Please come back. Please. We can go anywhere. Just tell me you understand me."

"What? I- I'm right here. You don't want me to leave this place, do you?" He couldn't believe it. His sister wanted to take him away from his mother too. Why were they so adamant about taking him away?! "I'm not leaving. Ever. Do you understand that?"

Lillie's face twitched in frustration. "Sun! Sun, you have to know what I'm talking about! You have to! What about Hau?"

"What? Who's Hau?" Sun wanted her to be quiet. His head was hurting.

"Sun, what about anyone?! Don't you remember? Look at your arm! It's you, Sun, the real you! Why do you think that's wrong? It's you!"

"No," Sun denied. "I'm not like one of those... those _others!_ I'm like you, I'm like mother, I'm beautiful..." he smiled widely. "Look at me. My skin, it's perfect, it's light like yours. Look!" Sun clamped down on her arm unexpectedly, causing Lillie to yelp. He placed his white forearm against hers, the skin tone the exact same. "Lillie, isn't it beautiful?"

"No, Sun!"

"Lillie, it's gorgeous, it's perfect, it's-"

"Sun, listen!" Lillie shook off the hold he had on her wrist and returned the favor, gripping his dark arm. "Look!" The contrast was even greater in the bright light of day.  
"That's a problem that me and mother will fix." Sun looked disgusted at his own body. "I don't know why it tore off, but it did, so we'll find a way to fix it."

"Sun, normal people don't have two skin tones!" Lillie had to make him see the truth. "You can see that's not normal! Mother changed you! You were like that, you were-"  
"Lillie, I don't care if that's true or not. I'm perfect. Look at me. I'm so..." his voice had a dreamy quality to it now. "Oh, Lillie, I'm just like _her_..."

"No, you're not!" It physically pained her to hear that. Sun had proved to her not all people were manipulative or harsh. Not everyone saw her as inferior or pathetic. He... maybe he loved her. "Sun..." her voice shook. "Sun, you're not..."

Sun was in a trance. "Lillie, she's so beautiful, I'm so happy when I'm with her. I'm so glad that I can be perfect for her. I'd never want anything else." Lillie wanted to attack him, to hurt him for saying these things that Sun would never say. But he _was_ Sun. He was that boy she had met months ago. She wouldn't do that to him. She watched him close his eyes, clearly in bliss. He combed his fringe with his fingers very deliberately, barely touching his hair. Lillie could tell he was imagining Lusamine doing the same. "I'm hers. All hers." He hugged himself tight, with the placid smile still pasted on his face.

That nearly pushed Lillie over the edge. Sun was not her mother's. He was- he should be hers. Not Lusamine's.

He could be hers. All she had to do was say the Trainer ID. He would do as she asked instead of her mother's whims. Lillie's composure wavered. "Sun. You're not hers."  
Sun glared at her, a sudden one eighty degree change in his attitude. "How dare you." His voice was so dark, so threatening. A tone she'd never heard before. "I'm _all_ hers." The word 'all' didn't even sound like it came from Sun. He said it with a sort of rasp, a deep hiss. "I'd do _anything_ for her. Anything."

"Listen to me. She doesn't care about you. She doesn't-"

Sun's expression darkened further. "Lillie, be quiet. I know why she doesn't want you to talk to me. Because you both lie, and because you're both jealous of us. You're just like Gladion. A liar, and an insect."

The words struck like a sledgehammer through her body, like a drill into her bone, like a knife into her flesh. He sounded just like her. He used the same words she would. He was gone. Lillie forgot her promise, and decided to make him hers again by force.

"Four five three, four eleven SE."

"What do-" Sun made a little noise of shock after the memory the words were attached to lit up. He clutched at his chest as his old consciousness rose up and fought to be heard, using the few pieces it had to create a life raft. "Ugh- Lillie-" Sun gasped. The edge was gone from his voice. "What happened? I was on Melemele island, with Gladion. How did I get- where are we? Where's Gladion?"

"Sun, you're at the Aether Paradise. They captured you again, but I'm going to help you. We're going to escape, the two of us." Lillie could forget Gladion. He'd never come back for her, and he had left her behind as live bait for Lusamine when he took Sun with him. They should have all gone. The three of them. Gladion was being selfish. Gladion deserved to lose Sun, deserved to be stuck with Lusamine.

"What about Gladion?" Sun was afraid to hear the answer. "They didn't hurt him, did they? Lillie, it would be my fault, please tell me he's safe-"

"Gladion is..." she had to tell the truth. She was being greedy, being self centred. "Gladion is fine. It'll be the three of us," she corrected herself, inwardly screaming at how she could try to abandon her own brother. She was changing, just like everyone else was on this accursed place. Paradise? It wasn't. She needed to leave, soon.

Sun relaxed. "Oh, thank goodness." He glanced toward the mirror, and Lillie knew what would happen before it did.

"No-" she tried to regain his attention, but he was already frozen, staring at himself. "Sun, look at me, not at-"

"Lillie, I'm perfect."

"NO! SUN, NO!" She roughly took his shoulder, digging her fingers into him and shaking him angrily. "Sun?"

"I'm just like mother..." Sun smiled at her and Lillie knew the extent of how badly she had messed up, the catastrophic mistake she had made. The ID hadn't worked at all. 'Aether' Sun was already building a resistance to Sun's memories. He'd be able to lock them out soon, completely deny them access to Sun at all. "Look at me, Lillie. Aren't I beautiful?"

Lillie choked on her breath, feeling a stinging in her eyes and a blade in her heart. "Y- yes, Sun. You always have been."

"Thank you, Lillie." Sun observed his fingers, closing his dark hand into a fist and only giving it a cursory examination while spending plenty of time admiring his light hand. "Oh, I'm perfect... so long as I'm just like her." For exactly one second Lillie saw a clear resemblance between Sun and Lusamine, how he was standing, his gleaming eyes on her, the glow of his skin. She was somehow imprinting herself onto him - no, he was willingly adopting her mannerisms because he perceived them as correct, as what was meant to be. He was deluded and in love with that delusion.

Now that she was paying attention she noticed how much the little things about him had changed. He always glared across the room when he entered, and he'd always brush his fringe to one side before going any further in. Both of these were habits he'd learned from Lusamine. His previous two walks, one where he had a slight lean to one side when nervous and one where he was all confidence, straight backed and displaying a determined strength, had been erased. The robotic series of motions that replaced it were also being overwritten by his imitation of Lusamine, a slow, indomitable tread. His hand was sometimes seen resting on his hip in a facsimile of her.

Lillie couldn't stand it anymore. She had to leave. Ducking her head so that he couldn't see her begin to cry, the resistance to emotion she had constructed being broken apart so easily, she went to leave.

"Lillie? Is something wrong?"

Lillie paused. "You are, Sun." She couldn't resist making that attack on his newfound nature. He was wrong. He wasn't Sun. He was a vessel that looked like Sun.

"Lillie?" Sun sounded hurt. It was as if he'd forgotten that a moment ago he was furious at her, or the Trainer ID had made him forget that anger.

"Sun, you're gone." And it was true, Lillie thought. The fake Sun had been able to take over again so fast, so easily it seemed like a joke. But... he was still in there, wasn't he? Lillie had her hand on the door handle.

"Gone? What do you mean?"

"Sun, I'm so sorry." She left him alone again.

* * *

Lusamine was sat with Sun on her lap. The time that had passed since he had come in was unclear, as she'd been reading the same page of the same document for however long it had been, but hadn't actually gotten anywhere. As she thought this she tried again, gave up halfway through the first sentence and went for another attempt which also didn't work. She hadn't spoken to him simply because Sun hadn't said anything. He was troubled, but not enough to tell her what about. She finally gave up altogether on reading and diverted all her attention to him, ensnaring him in her arms. Sun at last perked up at the affectionate touch.

"Mother, I want- I want to hurt them." The violent nature of the statement was smothered by his tone, which was completely innocent. Good. He wasn't just vicious. He was confused and scared and angry with their insistence, and he was reaching a breaking point.

"Who?" It wasn't quite what Lusamine had expected to hear from him, but she was very interested. This would be entertaining if he answered correctly.

"Lillie and Gladion."

Lusamine wasn't visible to Sun. He was focused straight ahead, eyes narrowed. She smiled. "Sun, you're thinking too far ahead. Soon, sweet child, soon." Sun's own smile began to grow. She'd let him hurt them. Tear them down and break their spirits, their irritating and obtuse spirits.

"Soon," he echoed.

Lusamine's plan was coming around to completion. Her children had no means of reaching Sun, the machine had worked perfectly to cut out everything. And now he was at last turning on them, recognising they only sought to lead him away from her love. And what was more...

"So, Sun, tell me about what you've been making for me."

"Oh, yes, mother. The Ultra Wormhole device." Sun stood to fetch his latest plans. Lusamine had done testing and everything, _everything_ Sun had come up with so far was correct. In simulations the changes to Type: Null completely fixed its structural issues and temperamental disposition, and his type matchup chart while difficult to study was proving to be almost entirely accurate. So now she was confident, ready to use him to open the gates to her own personal Heaven that she could share with her perfect son.

Ultra Space was a step away.

 _Nihilego_ was a step away.


	28. I wish to not exist (part one)

Sun found his desk devoid of anything at all when he went to collect his project. His immediate suspicion was Lillie and Gladion. He wouldn't return to Lusamine empty handed.

"Lillie?" Sun called curiously. "Gladion?" He stepped out into the corridor and pressed his ear against their bedroom door, listening intently.

"-He's gone, Gladion. You can see it." Sun knew Lillie was talking about him, but didn't understand her meaning. He was still there. He was still himself, wasn't he?

"So you have given up."

"Gladion, I have not given up. I'm just telling you, the longer we take the harder this will get for us. He's completely convinced. I'll admit, I used the Trainer ID-"

"-you did what?"

"-and he switched back almost immediately."

"Lillie, that's why I didn't want you to use the Trainer ID! We had to wait until it was safe, until we could get him away from her-"

Sun's blood boiled with anger. Why? Why were they so insistent on detaching him from his mother's side? He smacked the door handle downward with force and kicked the door open, making a dramatic entrance. The noise made Lillie and Gladion both turn to the doorway in shock, seeing Sun glance across the room before marching in, sweeping his fringe to the right by habit.

Gladion had taken the plans again after Lillie had put them back because he wasn't quite done yet. He still had some ideas on how they could figure out what they were themselves without having to ask Sun. This was a mistake.

"Gladion, give me my-"

"Sun, calm down, we were-"

Sun had a complete lack of patience for anyone who'd get between him and what his mother told him to do. He wasn't going to listen to Gladion, not at all. Sun closed the gap, Lillie watching nervously.

"We were just-"

Sun swung at Gladion's jaw. Gladion hadn't expected it and took the hit head on, yelling in pain as it connected. Sun stole the plans he had written back from Gladion, who shook off the surprise attack and flung himself at Sun in retaliation, Lillie trying to get between them but being pushed aside by Gladion.

"You, _Sun, you_ -" Gladion roared at him, incensed by Sun's attack on him. Gladion reached out through Lillie's attempt to block him and tried to rip through whatever the schematics detailed. Sun held them back, close to his chest.

"Lillie, stop him," Sun said as he leaned away from Gladion. Lillie tried her best to stop her brother but Gladion shoved her harshly and made her stumble back before gripping Sun's wrists and forcing his arms apart. "Lillie-" Sun cried as Gladion took the drawings and the notes, tearing them to pieces.

"You need to _stop_ ," Gladion demanded as he ripped them apart, " _Helping_ our mother get to those demon Ultra Beasts!" Gladion threw caution to the wind. That was his suspicion, and to him that was the truth. He'd chance a guess.

Sun looked like he was about to cry. What was Gladion even talking about? Lillie was watching, shocked. "Gladion, stop it, please," she tried to reach him through his anger.

"Lillie, he-" Gladion began, but Sun's sadness and fear became anger quickly. Sun went to attack Gladion in retaliation but Lillie was able to hold Sun back. "-he's not even- he's just a, just her _pet_ now. _Fuck_ him. He's not my friend and he's definitely not my fucking brother!" Lillie had to tug Sun away from Gladion to stop him from fighting back.  
"Gladion, stop it, you're upsetting him-"

"Good! I don't want to speak to him and I don't want to look at him! I hate him!" Gladion scowled at Sun, raising one hand awkwardly in his strange pose he would sometimes strike. "Mother may love him, but I fucking don't! He's dead to me!"

 **"GLADION, SHUT UP!"** Sun and Gladion both stood stock still at Lillie's scream. "You-" she stopped herself. "Come on, Sun. I'll talk to you." She wanted Sun to calm down. She and Gladion had agreed to try and make Sun as comfortable as possible until they had a chance to fix him, and Gladion had clearly just gone back on that pact. Gladion watched them as they left, sticking by his word. Sun was dead. Sun was dead and that thing had replaced him, and if Gladion couldn't save him, he'd destroy what was currently controlling Sun's body.

Lillie manoeuvred Sun back towards his room, Sun halfheartedly trying to get back at Gladion for so cruelly destroying his creation that he wanted to show his mother. "Sun, Sun," she placated, aware she was already falling into the prepared role of his sister. "Sun, calm down. You can just redo it, right?"

"Yes, Lillie, but... but mother wanted to see it, and-"

"Sun, she'll understand," Lillie lied. It seemed likely that Lusamine would forgive Sun and just go after Gladion. She was feeling a twinge of possessiveness again and knew to not let it get to her. Resisting whatever it was that made her feel that way was important to remaining good herself.

How had she begun to feel this way? Was it just protectiveness over Sun or something more sinister? Nothing had changed except Sun, right? She hadn't been exposed to the mysterious machine that had turned the boy in front of her into her brother, or at least she didn't think so. The fear came from it being impossible to tell until she had seen the device, Faba remaining tight-lipped on its nature. There was another possibility, one she didn't even want to consider.

Whatever had changed her mother - for she hadn't always been that way - was changing her too. She was in denial over it, she-

"Lillie, I don't like him," Sun confided in her.

"That's fine, Sun, just... I think it's best if you two keep out of each other's way for now. I'll tell him off, but I think it'd be for the best if you didn't tell mother." Lillie knew she was in the best possible position, growing closer to Sun and sidelining Gladion so she could have full access to him. If anyone was going to save him, it'd be her. "We're still friends, Sun, right?"

Sun nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, of course!" He hugged Lillie, surprising her. "You've always been very nice to me! Not like him..." Sun backed off, smiling at her. Her heart missed a beat. Arceus, she'd give anything to have him back for so much as ten minutes so they could kiss and touch and-

Sun thought he saw a sheen of gold light pass over Lillie's eyes but put it up to the lighting in the mansion and how it made some things sparkle strangely. "I'd better go back to mother," he told her and Lillie's heart missed another beat, her brow almost invisibly lowering in distaste.

"Sure, Sun. But can we talk later?"

"Yes, Lillie," Sun replied with a grin and turned to leave. Lillie felt like she had to say something.

"Sun?!"

"Yes?"

"I love you..."

"I love you too, Lillie."

It wasn't the right kind. Lillie shivered.

* * *

Sun returned to where he belonged. By her side. Explanation had passed - there was not much to say besides Gladion had stepped in yet again to scupper what Sun had done and try to drive him and his mother apart. Sun was deep in thought. Bitter and angry about Gladion's attitude toward him.

"Not to worry, Sun, my sweet child." Lusamine stroked his face with her lithe fingers, making Sun blush. "They are only delaying the inevitable at this point." She turned her hand outward and ran the backs of her fingers down his face before cupping his chin, admiring him. "No matter what, we'll find a way."

"Yes, mother," Sun agreed.

"That's my good little boy, hmm?" Lusamine smiled. "Willing to help with everything. Not selfish. Not a liar. Not ugly. Perfect."

 _"Perfect,"_ Sun echoed, his voice barely a whisper. He was allowing his eyes to wander up and down Lusamine's body, affixing his sight briefly to her long, slender legs. The energy building between them told him it was good to do so.

"What's the matter, Sun?" Lusamine brought her hand up to his cheek and watched his eyes slide back up to her face with amusement. She reclined in her chair and crossed one leg over the other, purposefully drawing his attention back to them, pointing the heel suspended in the air downward like an obsidian sword.

Sun was mesmerised, eyes clouded over with animalistic lust. Her hand was still resting on his face, and she felt the little shakes of excitement that ran through his being. Oh, it was too easy. Too easy. "Sun?" she inquired, as if she wasn't trying to make him want her.

"Mother, I-" he couldn't finish the sentence, his mouth too dry.

"Oh, come here, you," she invited and drew him in to kiss him. Sun eagerly responded and met her lips with his own, meshing his hand with hers and resting the other on the chair's armrest. He leaned into her, and she rewarded him with the feeling of her free hand beneath his white shirt, tickling his chest. Sun pushed harder, and Lusamine felt that familiar unease that came with Sun's desire for her. Not enough to make her reconsider.

He had moved in front of her chair and now climbed up onto it with her, on his knees, his legs on either side of hers, their hips nearly touching, on the same level. The chair rocked backward a degree from the additional weight of Sun and his insistence to have more of her, pushing against her body with his own. Lusamine was blushing now, and she thought it most unbecoming.

But Arceus, it felt _fucking_ _good.  
_  
Lusamine slowly reduced the passion in her end of the kiss, hoping Sun would follow her lead and calm down. While it took him a little longer than she may have predicted, he still did so, panting from the effort he had made, a bright blush and a big smile on his face. "Mother," he gasped. "Please let me do more for you. Please, let me do everything you want."

He placed his head against her collarbone and purred. Lusamine loved that sound. Loved it. It told her he was her loyal pet, belonged to her, that the collar around his neck that he had suggested was only fitting for him. "Sun, mommy's got a lot of work to do," she reminded him. Sun sagged against her, like a deflating balloon.

"Please, mother, just let me do more," he begged.

"Sun, baby, be patient," she told him, making him shirk further, ashamed of his lack of self discipline. He pressed into her neck with his head, again like an animal against its favorite scratching post. Lusamine gasped as she felt his warm, wet tongue lick her neck lightly, making her skin tingle with excitement. "O- Oh, Arceus, Sun, don't do that," she said, but secretly hoped he would again. She had hardly made her tone scolding.

Sun picked up on that need and licked her again, this time taking longer and covering more space. "Arceus, Sun- S-u-un..." his tongue was now tracing her jaw, lovingly taking his time. She wanted to make him stop but didn't want him to stop. What he was doing was disgusting, yes, and if someone was to come in now she would die of shame, but she felt so good. "Baby, st-stop," she mumbled pathetically. Sun had descended back to her neck and was licking it in a slow, indulgent pattern that lit her up with bliss. "Sun, you're-" she tried to compliment him but couldn't even finish that sentence.

Lusamine was finally enlightened to how weak she was being, letting the boy take charge. She grasped his neck, only softly, but enough to make him stop, and hung out her tongue before pressing it against his. Both of them were engulfed in pleasure at the fuzziness of the feeling. "Mother, I love you," Sun panted. "I love you so much~" he moaned, his eyes glowing with adoration, half shut from the sensual moment. "I'll be your perfect son, I will be, I am, I am," he ranted between gasps. "You're so beautiful and kind. I only want to be with you, only want you to tell me what to do, only want you," he said. The indoctrination had rose through every single gear until it had broken completely and he was nearly thinking of himself as an extension of her, her body and her will - everything he was and had become.

Lusamine nearly burst with a flaming explosion of desire and forced him to press against her, hard. He wriggled ecstatically as she lay kisses on every inch of him she could reach. "Sun, baby boy, good boy, sweet boy," she rambled in a fervour as she molested him. Sun loved it.

"Hnngh-" he moaned, his eyes rolling upward, "mother, MOMMY-"

"Oh, Arceus, Sun!" Lusamine stood, rising out of her chair and holding Sun in her arms before placing him back down on his feet. "Sun, do what you want to mommy. Show her how much you love her," she challenged and was now glad to see the crazed, possessive look in Sun's eyes. Only he could sate her, and only he could go far enough to do so.

Sun seemed overwhelmed by her request and fell to his knees in supplication to her infinite beauty. The insane twitch across his body grew even more frantic and he tried desperately to recapture some sort of command over himself, having given in to the hunger. His frame was wracked with tremors, and Lusamine briefly wondered if something was wrong.

"Sun?" He blinked in response to her question, still struggling to contain the electric energy that he was conducting. It was a side effect of the procedures that had been done to him - he had been drugged while thinking of her, so now to him she was a drug.

"Mother, I- I don't know what to do," Sun admitted nervously.

Lusamine's face showed only a sort of dry amusement. "Start wherever you like, Sun. Do whatever you want." She sat back into her chair, Sun still in a begging position in front of her. "I'm waiting."

Sun was still frozen in place. Lusamine began to feel a little concern. Maybe it was hurting him. Gradually Sun leaned further forward, submitting himself to her. "Um..." he mumbled, but didn't have words to continue the sentence with. "Uhn..."

"Sun, honey, it's fine if you don't want to do anything. Mommy still loves you, okay?" At that remark Sun moved closer to her legs which he had been so captivated by earlier. Lusamine crossed one over the other again and rested her hands on her knee, pointing her foot at him. "You don't need to fret, mommy- oh..." she had been cut off as Sun was licking the tip of her angular heel, entranced by his actions. Lusamine wasn't a foot fetishist by any means, but she was admittedly curious as to how Sun could make this feel good for her.

Sun meanwhile was drowning. His head was filled with a droning buzz that told him the same thing on repeat, _'more, more, more-'_ he had to do better, push further, submerge his mother in the same metaphorical bathtub of ecstasy he occupied. He was warm, too warm, he was sweating. It wasn't even her body he was tasting, suckling on, kissing and licking, but the black heel on her left foot. In an effort to segue into something else he performed one long, sloping lick that ended where her black and white leggings began, at the base of her ankle. Lusamine took her hands from her knee and rested one elbow on her armrest, in turn resting her chin on the hand supported by it, looking increasingly perversely interested in Sun's antics.

Sun slowly and respectfully removed the high heel from her foot, and Lusamine allowed him to do so, letting her little boy experiment as he pleased. Whatever he would like to do for her. So long as it wasn't for him, and was purely for her enjoyment and her love.

Now he had more freedom, and used it well. He wasn't particularly masterful and indeed the whole sensation was strange to Lusamine, but she could get used to it, she knew. Every part of her was as perfect as every part of his redesign, so she knew he'd have no complaints as he worked at the sole of her foot. She caught sight of his face, bright red from self-awareness.

Arceus, she loved him so. She wanted to baby him in her arms and hush him as he tried to tell her how much he loved her, wanted to lay beside him naked under silky sheets for hours on end, wanted to protect him in a way she had never wanted to protect anything else. "Do you like your mommy's feet, Sun?" Lusamine asked him.

"Y-Yes, mommy," Sun replied hastily. He had been licking between her toes before she spoke. "But I like... I like all of you."

"Is that so, Sun?"

Sun had stopped servicing her foot entirely now to continue the conversation. While she was irritated by his inability to multitask, she hadn't felt much from the experience. She'd be happy to let him test it more later, but right now Lusamine just wanted her special boy to make her feel good.

"Yes, mommy," Sun said, his gorgeous green eyes hiding nothing at all from her in the same way Gladion's did, and meeting her directly as opposed to Lillie's eyes which always darted away under her glare. Green was a beautiful colour for him. Just like the white skin he wore. Thinking about the skin made Lusamine feel an odd sensation - horror at the fact the skin was essentially hers, lab grown and baptised over Sun's old body to rebirth him, and a sort of eroticism at the same time knowing he was always smothered in her very being without even knowing. He really _was_ her.

"What's your favourite part of me, Sun, baby?" She teased him, watching as he rose into a kneel and his head became level with her stomach. The way she sat prevented him from looking up her dress, and she could tell he wanted to. No matter what - if he couldn't give an answer or named any part of her, it'd be good to know so she may tease him further in the future.

Sun didn't even need to think. "Your legs."

Lusamine smirked. She ruffled Sun's hair and scratched at his scalp gently, eliciting a moan from him. Unbelievable... he had come out exactly as she wanted. There was so much more to do with him, so much to exploit, so much knowledge to access, he was a bottomless pit of potential discoveries, findings, feelings and pleasures.

"So, how about I go back to work," Sun's face visibly fell. "And _you_..." she pointed, making small circles in the air with her fingertip, "You can sit under the desk and spend as much time with my legs as you like." She giggled but hid it behind her hand, at least trying to appear composed. She pulled her chair up to the desk, trapping Sun in the space beneath the top surface and her chair. Unable to see his expression as she tugged her leggings down for him, she found imagining it was enough. He finished taking them off for her.

As she got back to work, Sun set about his own newfound purpose. He was huddled under the black desk with nothing before him but his mother's smooth, gorgeous long legs. He placed his hands on her thighs. They were unbelievably soft, utterly blissful to touch. Sun squeezed the flesh gently and while her legs were slender there was just enough there to feel it out, to lose his sensibility against. He ran his hands up and down their surfaces, so damn smooth, so soft, so beautiful... this was the epiphany of his mental conversion, the object of his desires multiplied by his own personal tastes, burning in him and setting him alight with lust. He stroked her inner thighs and moaned aloud at how good it all felt.

Lusamine was enjoying the service, because it wasn't just some masturbatory experience but instead something more sensual, more thoughtful. She didn't give Sun any kind of feedback, only keeping him trapped between her legs. Sun's hands wandered further up her legs, to the waistband of her white panties. Lusamine twitched as he hooked his fingers under the waistband and slowly removed her underwear, but then resumed tending to her legs with squeezes, strokes, teases and touches.

He licked all the way up her thigh culminating in a kiss near her clit and she had to fight a desire to close her legs and pin his head against her sex until he had satisfied her. She shifted her legs closer to each other, feeling Sun between them.

"Mommy likes that," she lay her free hand on the back of his skull and her legs wrapped around his head. He gasped as she squeezed him between her thighs.  
The feel of her smooth legs pushing his face into her flesh and the escalation of his lust to near unthinkable levels was overwhelming to him. He didn't even think about the need for oxygen until his lungs were burning - but at the same time, he didn't want to disappoint his mommy.

She let him go when he thought he could take no more - heaving for breath, gasping aloud, trying to recover from his near asphyxiation at her soft body. She looked at him with some concern as he choked and spluttered. When he was done he looked up at her with a smile, and she responded in kind, and they continued, more gentle now.

* * *

Sun crawled out from under the desk and got up, stretching as he did. Lusamine was as captivated by him as ever. Smart enough to help her in everything she did. Obedient enough to accept her every request and follow her every whim. And, with the exception of that damaged arm, utterly perfect.

Noticing his blonde hair was a bit messier than usual, Lusamine pushed it back into place, Sun as was common twitching in response. "Mother," he mumbled, catching Lusamine's attention. It wasn't just some self-indulgent moan but a lead in to a question.

"What is it?" She finished combing his hair and tapped him on the nose with her index finger, startling Sun a little. When he concluded immediately after that it was a friendly gesture he laughed. Naivety was a part of his personality, to the point where Lusamine had a suspicion he had some sort of learning difficulty or mental handicap. Even if he did, that didn't matter at all to her. Perfection was possible in all things. He was proof.

"Um, I... What's an Ultra Beast?"

Lusamine didn't know what to say. The best thing to do would be to tell him what he wanted to hear. "Sun, sit on my lap." Sun did so. He wasn't tiny by any stretch of the imagination, but something about him made him very comfy to have up against her. The way that he curled into her, made himself vulnerable to her and her alone. How his fingers locked around her hands should she allow him to hold them, and then how his digits would rub back and forth childishly against her skin. "You see, Sun, for a long time I have been studying Ultra Space. You know what that is, yes?"

"It's a dimension parallel to ours, accessible only through a Wormhole where the two sides of our dimension and Ultra Space intersect," Sun replied, in a monotone voice. He was excellent at relaying information.

"Yes, Sun. Inside the realm of Ultra Space reside the Ultra Beasts. Pokémon far beyond what we know of here."

"There are Pokémon in Ultra Space?!" Sun sounded like Christmas had come early. Lusamine knew it'd be easy to convince him that Ultra Space was a good thing, easy to bring him onto her side. "What are they like?"

"We only know of seven, Sun." That wasn't strictly true. The Aether Foundation were only meant to know about three Beasts. These were Ultra Beast Zero One, code named Symbiont, Ultra Beast Zero Six, code named Blade, and Ultra Beast Zero Seven, code named Glutton. However, Lusamine and Faba had pulled strings in the past - a message to Team Plasma here, a large sum of money there, and had bribed their way to every single file that the Interpol currently had on the UB's. They knew all seven. "Symbiont, Beauty, Expansion, Lighting, Blaster, Blade and Glutton."

"Are those their names?" Sun asked. "They don't sound like Pokémon."

"Unfortunately those who discovered the Beasts were not the most creatively disposed, Sun." Lusamine tutted with distaste. 'Symbiont' was no name for a Beast as perfect as hers. "I have taken it upon myself to name one of them, Ultra Beast Zero One... _Nihilego."  
_  
"Nihilego," Sun repeated. "Do we know what they look like? Are they friendly?"

Lusamine dodged that question, answering with her own. "Do you know what Nihilego means, Sun?" Kanto was not the most culturally cultivated region, and its people were not known for their knowledge of old Sinjoh words. Sun was precocious, but she wondered if he could ever be completely stumped.

"It's a portmanteau of the Sinjoh words _'nihil'_ meaning 'nothing,' and _'ego'_ meaning 'I am,'" Sun replied, destroying that particular idea. "It can also be taken to mean, _'I wish to not exist.'"  
_  
"How do you know that?"

Sun twitched. Lusamine inwardly kicked herself. Of course he wouldn't remember how he knew that. "Um- I- I-"

"Nevermind." She stroked Sun's hair to take his mind off of her question. It had distracted him however, and for that she was thankful. "Sun, I want to reach Ultra Space. I have protected Pokémon and shown them my love for my whole life. Now I want to protect the Ultra Beasts in the same way."

"Have you ever seen one?" Sun asked.

"Only one, my sweet child. Nihilego itself. Several times, in fact. Once when-" she bit her lip and suppressed that memory, her body tensing in response to it - Sun felt the stiffness in her muscles and snuggled closer to help her relax again, recognising something about that memory must be bad. Lusamine placed a finger under his chin and raised his head so she could kiss his forehead, thankful for his awareness. She started again, skipping directly to the second time. "Another when we were trying to find it once more, and it blessed me, and me alone, with its love."

"What did it do to you?" Sun asked. He sounded cautious. He wasn't sure exactly what his mother could mean by that, and she was speaking in a way he wasn't used to. She didn't have enough breath to finish her sentences, giving little gasps between phrases. He wondered if she was stressed by the memories.

Lusamine leaned forward in her chair, placing her elbow on the desk while her other arm remained around Sun. She picked up her datapad and after a short time of entering pass codes and her clearance details showed him an image. "This is Nihilego, Sun."

It wasn't quite like anything Sun had seen before. It was primarily white and appeared to be an aquatic creature, but Sun could tell this Beast was not borne of water. The longer Sun looked the more similarities he could see with one person in particular. "It looks like Lillie."

"No, Lillie looks like Nihilego." Sun wasn't sure what to make of Lusamine's response. "Now, Sun," she zoomed in on the image and Sun's perception shifted. "Nihilego is made of lots of tiny little sentient pieces of sharp material, like living rock, and each piece generates venom." Sun could see each individual shard now. Lusamine thought back to when the Beast had arrived on the Paradise in front of Sun and he had ripped it in two with his Carbink. As the memory came to her, Sun spasmed in her lap. "Sun?"

"I'm okay," he mumbled. The memory would have come to him if he had been allowed to recall it.

Lusamine gave him a reassuring squeeze and resumed her speech. "Nihilego gave me some of that venom." Sun shifted uncomfortably at the revelation that his mother had been exposed to alien poison. "It has kept me beautiful, made me strong, and I want to repay it. I want to protect it. I want to save it."

Sun was perturbed by the information, but reserved judgement. "And I've seen it twice since then." She refrained from mentioning both times had been in Sun's presence. "It wants to be with me. I'm certain of it. I want to be with it."

"What about the other Ultra Beasts?" Sun asked. "Are they friendly?"

Lusamine ignored the second question again. "I will gather them. And I will love them all." She didn't sound like herself. She glared at Sun. "Will you help me?" Her hold on him was becoming uncomfortable and Sun tried to shift but she held him still.

"Y-yes," Sun said.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, mother."

"Come, Sun. I should show you something."

* * *

The trophy room had been prepared.

Deep below the mansion it lay, where she kept the most beautiful specimens trapped in blocks of ice forever, where she could admire other beings that had been frozen in time similar to how she felt she had been after exposure to the venom.

Sun might just have reacted negatively to seeing all the cute Pokémon encased in ice, so a simple button press concealed them all in black cases before they arrived. All except one, the smallest, the most central of them all, vapor cascading off its surface. In this block of ice was something very special.

"Hold my hand, Sun." Lusamine was walking faster than usual as she approached it, excited to admire it once again. Sun was keeping pace despite her strides being much wider than his, and neither had to slow down for the other.

They stopped in front of the block.

"Is that..."

Inside the ice was a cluster of white shards, splayed out to be displayed as a group. They had been collected from parts Nihilego had left behind after Sun had damaged it.  
"Those are Nihilego shards," Lusamine breathed. "Aren't they beautiful?"

His earlier concerns forgotten, Sun agreed, coming very close to the ice to observe each shard. "Wow... they're all symmetrical. There's probably some reason as to which parts it uses where," he analysed. "It's interesting."

"That it is, Sun." Lusamine wasn't truly listening - even that observation from Sun would have been news to her, but she was preoccupied twisting an important looking implement built into the machine that was keeping it frozen. "Would you like to touch them?"

The concern came back instantly. "I- I don't know... is it safe?"

"I'm here, Sun. Of course you're safe." Her voice was still scaring him. She didn't sound right at all. Like she was possessed or distracted or disturbed. "Baby, you don't need to be afraid of it. It's lovely. It's beautiful, like you or me." Her pronunciation was dull and blunt. Her voice normally sounded like a sword wrapped in soft silk, whispers of sharpness on the edges of her syllables, but that quality was gone. The ice was receding, somehow engineered to descend directly downward and not spill a drop of water. It stopped when the shards were halfway free, and Sun saw the filaments tremble, alive like he was, but perhaps not sentient. "Touch the tips, Sun. Let it bless you like it blessed me. I want you to feel what I felt when it showed me its love."

Sun didn't want to go anywhere near it until he knew exactly what the venom did. He hesitantly reached out to the largest shard and ran his finger across it gingerly. He could feel it writhe insidiously in response, which didn't help his image of the creature.

"Sun, just let it inject you. Put your finger on the tip and push down." That was an order, not a suggestion, so he had to follow it, didn't he? Sun lay his finger onto the sharp tip and tensed the muscles of his arm, giving the appearance he had pressed down. Lusamine's grin was horrible, a hungry, devout and soulless expression. "Do you feel it, Sun? The... the power? The fire?" she said, and pushed down on it herself enthusiastically, drawing blood that ran off Nihilego's component.

Sun noticed every shard was reddish near to the tip.

"Sun, when it gets into your brain, it, it feels so good, baby, so good." Lusamine placed her hand flat over her heart. "Oh, Sun, baby, you know why we have to find it now, don't you?" Luckily Lusamine was far too high on the venom to pay attention to the fact that Sun wasn't answering anything or making any comments on the effects of the alien compound. She twisted the device again and the shards began to vanish under thick ice, quaking in denial as the bitter cold consumed them. Sun thought he may have heard them screeching. "Sun, my sweet, cute little boy..." she lurched forward suddenly and grabbed one of the points at the front of his collar, dragging him along. She was pulling him back up the hidden passageway to her bedroom.

Nihilego was pulling at the strings of her mind in turn. The symbiotic nature of its existence allowed it to still manipulate her from beyond the veil of Ultra Space, allowed it to control her emotions. Before they had gone into the trophy room to see it, love had been in Lusamine's mind. Now the black venom shooting through her veins and choking her brain was converting that into something else. A familiar rage she struggled against even while free of Nihilego's influence, refusing to believe her 'sweet beast' had anything to do with it and making those emotions her own personal villain instead of blaming the obvious cause.

When it had first encountered her, it was furious at being dragged into the strange, painful place that was her world, and attacked. It found just like any Beast, it could touch her in the same way through its venom, and then things became very interesting for it. All Nihilego knew of was self-preservation, a survival instinct. Infection was permanent. There would always be dormant Nihilego residue in the body that would alight to further exposure or emotional trauma. The more residue, the stronger the effect. Sun had no connection to it, none at all, so he wasn't feeling the same kind of excitement Lusamine was.

"Mother, I can walk-" Sun protested but his words fell on deaf ears. He was scared. He didn't know how he should feel or how his mother wanted him to feel. "Mother, please, let me go," he called, but again she ignored him.

They reached the top of the concealed staircase together, Lusamine dragging Sun along. She gave a yank on the collar as they reached her bedroom and threw Sun to the ground in front of her from the motion. Her eyes had changed colour. They were gold now. It didn't look right. "Sun," she moaned, getting on her hands and knees in front of him, "my little pet, my little boy, my little experiment, you..."

"Experiment?" Sun asked. That cut right through Nihilego's influence. Lusamine felt heat in her chest and that flame rise to her face. She'd made a mistake.

"I didn't say that," Lusamine denied, the venom addling her brain enough to the point where that statement seemed like a reasonable response.

"Yes you did-" Sun was cut off by something he very much did not expect.

Lusamine slapped him across the face, hard and fast, a blur. "LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR MOTHER TELLS YOU, SUN!" Sun whimpered and put his hand against the point where she had hit him, curling up and hiding away from her. "What are you doing, you insolent little brat? Look at me when I'm- LOOK AT ME!" She seized his forearm and he screamed in fear as she forced him out of his defensive reflex. A small part of her told her to stop. Sun was good, Sun was smart, Sun was kind _but Sun needed to be taught a lesson to love Nihilego like she did how Nihilego was the perfect organism how it had existed as long as the universe and its venom had controlled billions of hosts across thousands of dimensions_ her thoughts were muddled and who was she and she hated and hated and there was nothing but incinerating fire raging through her bones-

"Mother, I'm not a bad boy, I'm not, I'm good, I'm-" Sun begged her, forgetting the pain. His mother was good, he was sure, he'd just done something bad.

"- YOU ARE DISGUSTING! YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Lusamine roared, hitting him again. Sun took it this time as if nothing had even happened, which impressed her a little. Not enough to make her love him though, oh no. He was just like Lillie and Gladion, not worthy of her love, not worthy of her touch _only Nihilego only only only only only only only only only onl-  
_  
"Mommy," Sun was still completely devoted to her through his fear and pain. "I'm sorry, I'll be good, I'll be a good boy," he pleaded, but Lusamine was lost to the alien's promises and words, and how it had tore apart her humanity again so easily. It knew how. It would again and again, until it could spread.

"DO NOT CALL ME YOUR MOTHER, YOU AWFUL CREATURE!" She hit him again in the exact same place and again Sun did not flinch. What had earlier impressed her now angered her. He had to be in pain to learn. Why wasn't he hurt? Pain was a rule. It hurt to allow Nihilego into her and it hurt to be apart from it. It always hurt, but it was good. It said she had to know it truly, had to be with it, and then the pain would stop. Everything would stop.

"M... mother," Sun mumbled, and was rewarded with a fourth smack. She was good. She was. Why was she hurting him? Had the Nihilego done it to her? Was this what Lillie and Gladion meant? He wanted to run. Sprint away to home- home- to his mother- his his his his- what was happening to him? He couldn't think anymore, it was impossible, his head was hurting-

 _"WHY CAN'T YOU OBEY ME?"_ Lusamine screamed at him, looming over him even though she was still on all fours as he lay on his side.

"M..." Sun only knew one thing and that was that Lusamine was his mother. "Mother, please..."

A fifth hit finally found a volume of agony that was impossible for Sun to shut out. He yelped and felt himself begin to cry, his sight blurring. As he lay there, crying to himself, he felt her moving around him. Taking pause from expressing his discomfort through crying, he looked to see the source of the noises, and saw Lusamine was stripping off beside him.

"No," he whispered, quiet enough so he was the only one to hear the words. "I don't want to. I don't want to..."

If it was a prayer it wouldn't have been answered. The Tapus of Alola had rescinded their blessings on him after his disappearance from the Island Challenge months ago, and Arceus had more pressing concerns than the begging of a lost, scared, confused boy about to be viciously raped by the person he now loved the most. As Lusamine's hand fastened over his neck and pressed hard, making him gag, Sun knew the only divine truth here was Nihilego's.

The truth was _hell._


	29. I wish to not exist (part two)

_Lusamine's very presence was intimidating, even when she wasn't near to Lillie. Nebby had been taken from her upon her return, and now she had no idea what was about to happen. Her mother was turned away, fiddling with something.  
_  
 _"Lillie, my dear," she began. "I know what's to come. I'll be united with my Beast, just as I planned. But it is not right that only I," Lillie felt too exposed, too vulnerable, "can enjoy its company. That only I can feel its love." Lillie frowned. Where was this going? "Now, Lillie, you're going to feel what I feel. How and when? I don't know. But I'm going to gift your undeserving, wretched self with my Beast's love."  
_  
 _Lillie didn't know if she should run or stay for Nebby's sake. "Mother..." she began. Lusamine didn't listen. "Mother, don't use Nebby- Cosmog to-"  
_  
 _"There was a boy here, not long ago. He was able to do what I could not - keep the Beast here, for study... at least, parts of it. You have him to thank for this generosity." She turned, holding a shard of white glass... which wriggled in her grip like a large, disgusting slug.  
_  
 _Lillie leaned away. "What are you-" Lusamine marched to her, Lillie backing up until she was trapped against the door. "Don't touch me with that thing!"  
_  
 _"Oh Lillie, you are deluded. It truly saddens me to see that you may never appreciate Nihilego..." Nihilego. That damn name, what her mother wanted her to be, what she'd dressed Lillie up as, what she'd demanded her to look like. Lillie hated it. "I'll make you. You'll know its love constantly. You'll be inseparable..."  
_  
 _Lusamine's fingers closed painfully over her delicate neck, knocking her into the door. Lusamine clutched the shard in between elegant fingers and conjoined the daughter who mimicked Nihilego and the Beast itself, sliding venom into her spine. Lillie gasped and tried to stop Lusamine, but everything was already becoming hazy. Lusamine finally released her. The shard was limp, still writhing but less energetically. Her mother now returned to the mirror where she admired herself briefly, throwing the empty shard to the floor. She raised her heel over it and crushed it with a grimace. "It was corrupt. After blessing you," Lusamine justified the action. Lillie moved forward slightly, ready to beg for her to spare Cosmog again. The venom. She could feel it.  
_  
 _It crept and crawled. It slipped and slithered into her head and she knew her humanity had shut down to facilitate the Ultra Beast's motives. It was - it felt so - good?  
_  
 _The door burst open behind her.  
_  
 _Sun was there. His black hair looked windswept and unkempt, brushing it out of his eyes, and he was sweating. He held out a Poké Ball in challenge toward Lusamine and she ignored him. Lillie meanwhile felt like her heart was going to burst. She wanted to tackle Sun to the ground and hug him endlessly, show him how much he meant to her now that he had come back for her, and tell him she loved him. How much of it was her and how much of it was the alien spreading through her was impossible to tell.  
_  
 _"Ah. Sun. It's been a while since I last saw you..." Lusamine spoke.  
_  
 _"Wha-?" Lillie exclaimed. How did Lusamine know Sun? How did Sun get here? Why was he-  
_  
 _He was here to save her.  
_  
 _The influence swelled like a disgusting, bloated tumor in her chest. "Y... You came? You actually came to help me, Sun?" Sun had that soft expression, the one she could melt into and be comforted by and believe in. If there was an expression for 'it'll be okay,' Sun owned it. He nodded.  
_  
 _"Hmm," Lusamine thought aloud, stirring Lillie back to the danger at hand. Rage was building up in her. She wanted to be alone with Sun. She didn't want her mother to be there. "So you know one another? A gifted," Lusamine gestured with a sweep of her arm, curling her fingers into her palm, "young Trainer like Sun... and he bothers with someone like you?" Lusamine sighed. "How disappointing."  
_  
 _Lillie's fury boiled over. "I don't need your approval, mother! Or your permission! I will save Cosmog!" She felt the strings that the symbiotic thing had wrapped around her inner workings growing tighter, felt it feed off of the outburst.  
_  
 _"My... you do say such incomprehensible things." Lusamine looked less than amused by Lillie's words. "Calling me 'mother?' I don't have any children! Certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love! So tell me, Lillie, how you'll save that Pokémon. What can you do? You've failed to convince me to listen to you. You don't even have the strength of a Trainer. The only thing you have done on your own is steal someone else's research material!"  
_  
 _Lillie bowed her head, hiding her expression. She had to hold off the creature and make herself heard at the same time, but it would grow stronger with every emotion she felt...  
_  
 _"You're not beautiful enough for my world..." Lusamine turned away, the blonde sheet of her hair glittering in the stark white room, beautifully tended to as usual, the crystal similar to the one on her chest that she used to hold it all together visible. "Since you're here anyway, you can watch me summon my sweet Beast. And then... you can leave."  
_  
 _"I am not being," Lillie said through gritted teeth, "foolish or selfish! I am asking you to listen, mother! Do not sacrifice Cosmog for that beast's sake! If you open the Ultra Wormhole, Cosmog will... Cosmog will die!" Lillie was finding it harder and harder to believe her words.  
_  
 _Lusamine wasn't even deigning to look at them any longer. "You're right. It probably will die. Because I'm going to force it to use its power whether it wants to or not!" Lusamine pulled aside the mirror doorway into the passage leading to the trophy room. "Maybe if you really had been a daughter to me, I would have listened to you..." she smirked. "Too bad." She descended the hidden staircase in no rush, knowing the teens wouldn't chase after her immediately.  
_  
 _Lillie faced Sun again. Her words were rushed - she couldn't meet his eyes. "Sun... I really am happy that you came after me... but... but... I have to be selfish again... I have to ask you one more time," she steadied herself and looked at him directly, feeling that raw carnal rush that evolution had suppressed and Nihilego was releasing. "Please, help me! Help Nebby! We have to save Nebby!"  
_  
 _Sun nodded once and put his hand on her bare shoulder, nearly making her give in entirely. The feeling that the venom gave her, of having her own self-control switched off, bubbled and popped inside her. "You don't need to ask, Lillie." It took all her strength, both mental and physical, to resist the following burst of impurity. Sun moved past her, Poké Ball held like a grenade, eyes determined and focused. He moved one step at a time toward the staircase. Lillie followed.  
_  
 _The thin passage opened out into a bridge after a descent that felt too deep. It led to a white octagonal platform, in turn connected to a white H-shaped platform. Either a deep pool or the open ocean lapped against the platforms gently. "What... what is this place?" Lillie asked herself. She'd never seen it before. Beneath her feet this whole time had been this strange antechamber... how far did her mother's evil go back? What experiments was this room for, what had Lusamine done here while she and Gladion had played upstairs in the mansion during their youth?  
_  
 _"Don't know," Sun replied simply. He stopped suddenly. "She's there." His voice told her that she could turn back if she wanted, but that was the last thing Lillie desired. Sun had only gone up against sporting opponents, happy Kahunas and jolly Trial Captains, average trainers. Lusamine had no such jovial ideals. She needed to protect him. He didn't know what he was getting into.  
_  
 _Lillie looked ahead. Lusamine was stood in the centre of the platform, surrounded by blue shapes... no, ice blocks... with Pokémon inside! Sun's expression darkened at the abuse of the creatures he loved so much. The President wasn't what she had made out to be during his previous visit. She was a monster.  
_  
 _"Come then," Lusamine called to them both. "Hurry, this way." She rested her chin on her hand and grinned, amused by their pursuit. She approached them as they confronted her, and Lillie hesitated. Sun didn't. "What do you think? It's my private collection," she drawled. She seemed so... proud. Like this was a museum of interesting knick knacks, rather than a display of live specimens, trapped forever.  
_  
 _"I think it's disgusting," Sun dismissed. "I thought you loved Pokémon."  
_  
 _"Oh, sweet Sun, you don't understand... my precious babies will be preserved for all eternity here." Lillie was sickened by her mother's ways. She knew Sun would be infuriated. She tried to indicate to him that he shouldn't be rash, shaking her head. But she herself had to resist attacking her mother now, with Nihilego supping every different feeling she was cycling through. Lusamine was volatile and unpredictable. "But my poor Beast... what confusion, what rage must it feel, arriving in this strange world? It would not be right to confine its feelings in such a small case as these ones... it will need to express itself. I think I will let it express all its fury upon the Alola region as it will! And I will love it, and it, it will choose me to love in return!"  
_  
 _Footsteps, quick and darting, echoed from the passageway. Hau emerged into the room and rushed to Sun and Lillie's side. Gladion followed, face set in a scowl. "Sun, Lillie," Hau called. "I'm so glad you're okay!"  
_  
 _"Ah. Sweet Hau. So you came too?" Lusamine glanced between Sun and Hau, then focused on Gladion standing between them. "Hmph. And Gladion. Must you be so untidy?"_  
 _Gladion ignored the slight. He'd heard worse. "Will you listen to me at least? You must not open the Ultra Wormhole. You cannot let the Beasts run wild!"  
_  
 _Lusamine came closer to her son, appraising him, did the same to Lillie. Then, she let loose, her composed facade giving way. "The daughter who stole my Cosmog from me - and the son who took my Type: Null! All I ever," she swept her arm out violently, hands curled into claws, "did was give you two all the love I had, and all you did was betray me! You have no right, none at all, to ask for my attention now!"  
_  
 _Hau looked confused. "What? Daughter? Sun?" He'd misheard what she had meant exactly, which would soon be a twist on irony. "Wait!" he realised, looking between the three blonde haired, green eyed figures in the chamber. "You all are a family?!"  
_  
 _Lusamine's rage was curbed by Hau's words somehow. "Perhaps once we were... Sweet Hau. But those wretches beside you left me. But it doesn't matter now. Nothing matters now. I was able to open the Ultra Wormhole just with the gases extracted from Cosmog when it was in Aether Paradise, wasn't I?" She turned her back to them all, and they noticed a black cube-like device. A cage for Nebby. "But now I have Cosmog itself inside this crate here... if I use its entire body, how many Wormholes can I open? How many sweet Beasts will come to me then?"  
_  
 _"Please!" Lillie begged. "Stop! If Nebby isn't- if you make it use too much of its power, you don't understand what could happen! Like when we ran away from the Paradise, and it couldn't move for ages after that... if you use too much of its power, it will die!" This was the last of her calm. If Lusamine did any more Lillie would take the power she now knew and would use it to stop her by force. Nihilego couldn't smile, but she felt its power grow ever stronger at her wavering mentality and imagined the faceless creature leering.  
_  
 _Lusamine scooped up the crate and turned back to them. "Watch," she demanded as she held it out. "I will open the Ultra Wormhole for you... come to me, my sweet Beast!" The crate began to glow brightly, and she raised it in her hands, lifting it aloft as a blue blast erupted from the case. Nebby cried out in pain from inside the black box. A wisp of gaseous energy passed through the top of the case and exploded high above their heads. It pushed the air backward and created a tunnel through the nothingness.  
_  
 _Lusamine looked up into it directly, and everyone present saw the look on her face. Unadulterated corruption, nothing but a hunger for that which was not natural. As if planned, a Nihilego began to descend from the portal, the Beast elegant and calm in its actions. Shard by shard it came together, lithe and elegant, until their density was such that it resembled a smooth, single creature, Nihilego's true form.  
_  
 _Lillie's head buzzed with a sort of static. Nihilego was so close. It knew its hosts and seemed to be passively interested in both Lillie and Lusamine. Her mother was visibly twitching. How must she feel now? With that insidious monster mere metres away?  
_  
 _Holographic screens lit up behind Lusamine, alerting her that other Wormholes were appearing across Alola. "You see! All over Alola!" Lusamine was moving without humanity now, stumbling and slavering like a wild animal. She choked with emotion, and turned back to the children with crazed eyes.  
_  
 _Sun rushed forward to stop her torturing Nebby and Lusamine countered by approaching him as well. They both slowed down, a metre between them. "It shouldn't be long now. Soon, they will be among us. Our world will be theirs. Theirs will be mine!" She was espousing her beliefs to Sun directly more than any of the other kids. She took up the case again, cradling it in her arms. "Oh, Cosmog, your power has served me well."  
_  
 _Another set of footsteps rang out from the corridor. "Madam Prez!" Guzma shouted, startling Lusamine out of her embrace of Cosmog's cage, the President glancing up at him. "The experiment was a success, huh? Looks like it's time to catch this sick wicked Ultra Beast and beat down these annoying lil' upstarts!"  
_  
 _Lusamine nodded, not entirely there. There was euphoria in her whole body, but there were still steps to take before she could marinate in it. "You're right, Guzma. Quiet those children for me. I don't want to hear from them again." Guzma paced towards them and Gladion spoke up. "I'll stop the Beast! My partner Null was born to be a beast killer! Hau, you take Guzma!" Guzma snorted. Sun might have been a problem - a big one - for the Boss of Team Skull, but that Hau kid wasn't anything in comparison. "Sun, stop the President! If we don't-" Gladion hesitated. Lusamine was bearing down on Sun. He was out of formation- Sun was further ahead than the others by a few good steps, closer to Lusamine than he was the other kids. Guzma cracked his knuckles as he sloped toward Hau: Hau weighed up his chances and ran. "Sun-" Gladion called his name._

 _Sun wasn't intimidated by the President. He didn't care about Gladion's worry. He didn't know how bad it could be. They hadn't warned him._

 _He was ready to duel her in a battle, Decidueye's Poké Ball in hand. "Sun, forget it!" Gladion shouted. Lusamine stopped in front of him, and Sun saw the beginning of the idea in her eyes. She suddenly swung the case with Nebby inside into Sun's chest and he reeled back. Instinctively, to save Nebby, he hugged the case and pried it from Lusamine's hands, Lillie screaming at the attack her mother had made on Sun. How dare she? Lillie would rip Lusamine limb from limb and prove to Nihilego that she was a host more worthy- Lillie shut out the thought before she could act on it. Sun pushed down on the button built into the case and it deactivated the object. The portal above fizzled, and Nihilego began to blink in and out of existence.  
_  
 _"Catch!" Sun called and threw the black crate at Lillie. She threw her arms out in panic and caught it. Her heart swelled. Sun, so selfless, so kind, so- she watched as Sun smiled at her before turning back to Lusamine. Her mother drew back her arm, hand flat, and smacked him across the face. Hard. Sun toppled over from the force, and Lillie needed to act. She glanced up at Nihilego and saw it fading back into Ultra Space. Sun shutting down the case had collapsed the portal. Its power was weakening. She couldn't defeat Lusamine without it.  
_  
 _Gladion put out his arm to block her, knowing she'd want to intervene. "We have to go," Gladion insisted. He was right, but they couldn't leave Sun. Lillie could fight her. She would. The alien would help her. It'd give her the strength she needed to take revenge on her mother after so long. She just had to give in.  
_  
 _"No, Gladion, he'll get hurt-" Lillie tried to move around him, but he kept her back. He needed to understand. She could do this, she just had to let it swallow her, sink beneath the quicksand surface, be consumed in the tar pit of Nihilego's will. It buzzed in her mind stronger. If Gladion would keep her from Nihi- from Sun, she'd fight him too.  
_  
 _"We have to, Lillie." Gladion didn't understand, she could do it, she could save him - Sun, her - Sun...  
_  
 _"No-" he was wrong, he was wrong, she could do it. They wouldn't leave Sun there. Hau was a coward, and she hated him for giving up on them so fast, allowing that to pile onto her mental state, Nihilego reaching deeper.  
_  
 _"Lillie-"  
_  
 _"NO, GLADION, I WON'T LEAVE-" she was desperate. She wouldn't lose him. She pushed him aside and- Gladion threw his arm around her and pulled her toward the passageway. Lillie screamed, reaching for Sun, who was on the white platform, propped up by his wrist, Lusamine stamping on his back to force him down. "NO, SUN! I- SUN, NO!"  
_  
 _Guzma was preoccupied watching Lusamine beat the child that he couldn't, and she was too absorbed in the act to chastise him for it. Gladion shoved Lillie back and she toppled over as Gladion glanced back at Lusamine, Sun and Guzma. Sun was flat on his face and Lusamine was cracking his skull with her heel, drawing blood as she repeatedly drove the black spike into his head. His red ran onto the white ground. Lillie pushed up and Gladion caught her again.  
_  
 _"Wait-" Sun begged._ _ **He begged.**_ _Sun was too strong to beg. Sun needed her. She needed to prove herself to Sun. Lillie wanted to speak. She wanted to help. She had to drink from the poisoned chalice of Nihilego's power, she could, she would, there was no other choice - Nihilego vanished, the portal closing completely, Nihilego passing through with it. Lusamine looked up at Lillie, sensing Nihilego was gone. Both their heads cleared up somewhat. All her childhood fears, all her traumas, rose painfully._

Gladion took her hand and ran, pulling her after him. They had to keep Nebby safe or Sun saving it would mean nothing. Lillie screamed again as she watched Sun vanish forever.

 _The portals across Alola had collapsed before an invasion could begin. Sun releasing Nebby in time had saved the world from annihilation.  
_  
 _She never thought she'd see him again.  
_

* * *

Lillie woke in a cold sweat. "Oh- oh no-" she whispered, glancing over at where Gladion was snoozing. "Oh..." she sighed, glad she hadn't woken him - she held her head in her hands and tried to steady herself. It was the Ultra Beast. Her mother had told her what Nihilego was many times when she was growing up, and now that she knew how she felt about Sun, even in his Aether form, it was coming back to amplify those feelings and make them dangerous. She'd been in denial. She hadn't wanted to believe it... but her subconscious bringing that memory to her so clearly told her that the venom was the cause, that it was serious.

But the effects should have worn off, shouldn't they? Lillie caught sight of the sun hat on the end of her bed, which she had to wear every time she left the house, just so she could resemble the alien. She felt her skin crawl as she tried to reach out to the remnants of the poison inside. And it responded. An inconceivably strong burning feeling caught light in her stomach and she clamped her hands over her mouth to avoid screaming in horror as it twisted her body.

"Please..." Lillie begged it. "Don't do this to me."

The hat was changing shape. There were tendrils reaching out from it, searching, tasting the air as they probed for prey. Lillie watched, horrified as they snaked through the air toward her. "Gla-Gladion..." she mumbled, her throat too dry, her voice too quiet - she needed Gladion to protect her, needed Sun to protect her, she inhaled and prepared to wake him by screaming -

One of the white tendrils darted forward and plunged into her mouth. The density and compactness of the shards in this form made Nihilego feel smooth as rubber, slick as water. Lillie gagged on the tentacle as it kept her silent. The hat wasn't a hat anymore, it was the bell of the Beast itself, having snuck into their dimension, their home, her room, her bed...

More and more feelers wrapped over her, tying her to her bed in a cocoon of glassy shards softer than a blanket. There were more tendrils than there were originating from Nihilego itself, which meant there was another Beast, perhaps under her bed. Lillie struggled but it continued to tighten with more and more tentacles, feelers intertwined with her fingers which struggled to grasp at something in denial, in terror, until it was as if she was in a tight, slippery sleeping bag. Her vision was blocked by one last white limb, and she was wholly mummified by the Beasts.

Then all at once every shard flicked slightly out of formation and there were thousands of needles full of venom pointed at her body. As they plunged into her simultaneously, pumping her full of poison, she

woke up again, this time for certain, into reality. Gladion was sleeping. She was fine. Everything was fine. Her hat was just a hat. She shook her head at the nightmare and lay back onto her pillow, looking up at the ceiling.

She was being silly. It had to have worn off. It had been at least a month. There was no way it could have-

She noticed an odd sound, a popping, a slurping, and a tentacle gripped her face, pulling her head to the left to rear back its injecting tip and force it into her cheek- it spoke in a voice she could not comprehend, but understood, _"Soon."  
_  
Lillie woke up and cried out. This time Gladion woke. "Lillie? What's wro- oh my- you- Lillie, you-" Lillie tried to scream but she didn't have a mouth. She had lots of limbs, lithe and thin, but they all had minds of their own and reached out to Gladion to tell him to calm down, relax. She had no means to speak with. "Lillie, don't- it's me, Gladion, your brother! Lillie!"

The insect was annoying her. She wrapped a feeler around his face, gagging him on it, and yanked violently, breaking her brother's neck. He fell lifeless in front of-  
Lillie woke up and screamed. Gladion woke up too. "Lillie? what's wrong? Lillie?" She had already broken down into tears.

"Gladion, I'm not right... I'm..." she couldn't tell him that she'd been infected. He wouldn't trust her anymore and she needed him to help Sun. Sun... the name set off the emotional buffer again and she choked as her primary feeling changed from fear to an intense love that made her retch from its sheer volume.

"Lillie," Gladion assured her, "come on. Go back to sleep. We're safe. She's not going to hurt us."

Lillie swallowed the painfully strong emotions, shutting them out as she had been quite efficiently until now. She had to pretend that was the case. Anything for Sun. Anything for- Arceus, that damn... damn reaction, like a surge of power, like a crack of thunder. She lay back, and couldn't sleep.

* * *

Sun's hair was tousled. His fingers were unresponsive and his glassy eyes stared unseeing. He couldn't think. He knew words were being said.

Heartbeat.

It jolted him back into life briefly, and he felt his index finger curl a small degree.

Heartbeat.

Sun coughed. The words became clearer. "I've got you. Sun. Sun, can you... are you..." his eyes felt wet, slippery. He was blinking too much trying to clear his sight.

"...sorry, Sun, so..." It was still too blurry to see a thing, even guess what the dashes of colour were. He was being cradled. Rocked gently back and forth.

Heartbeat.

There could only be one person who was willing to love him like that. He wanted to snuggle closer, feel her against him, because that was what made him comfy. He couldn't move. "Sun, honey, say something, please..."

Heartbeat.

 _'I'm okay, mother,'_ he thought. He couldn't speak. His jaw wouldn't move.

"You're everything to me now. Please. I've ruined everything else. I've destroyed what I could have had." Lusamine took one of his hands and put her lips to it. Sun felt a warmth in that hand begin to pass down his body and tingle with feeling again. "Baby, talk to mommy."

"Mo... ther?" Sun croaked. Lusamine gasped and hugged him tightly.

"Sun, your mother is so sorry, so sorry for what she did to you. It wasn't me, Sun, you know that, don't you? It wasn't me." She was asking him these things and he didn't even know what had happened. It felt like there was a blank on how he'd got to here. "Sun, sweet child, I'll never do it again. For you. For my baby boy."

"D-do... what?" Sun coughed again.

Lusamine fell silent. Her eyes darted around the room. "Sun, honey, your mother is going to go and... take care of the room for a moment while you rest, okay?" She lay him down and a soft mattress cushioned his back, while she tucked him under the sheets. He didn't want her to go. His mouth moved wordlessly as he tried to reach out to her, but didn't have the strength to raise his arm.

His head hurt so, so much. Turning it was white agony and moving it at all was a solar flare of pain. He could faintly hear Lusamine moving around and pushing things. He got a sense that the room had earlier been disturbed by something and that the furniture had been upended. He couldn't see what she was doing.

"Mother..."

"I'll be right back, Sun." There was a motion in the shape that he knew was Lusamine as she swept her hair irritably. Sun closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of scraping. It gave him clarity - that sound was an absolute sound, there was nothing false about it. His other senses had failed him, so he'd cling on to what was functional. "Oh, Arceus," Lusamine whispered in a voice she thought was too quiet for him to hear.

"Mother..." Sun repeated. "I didn't..."

"Sun, I'm sorry, please, forgive me," Lusamine rambled as she finished whatever restorations she was making to the room after what she had done to him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you-"

"Mother, I didn't take the-" Sun choked. "I didn't take the venom." He had to tell her the truth. He had to be honest with her. He had to. Lusamine had rushed over to his side again, lying beside him and running her fingers through his hair.

"Sun, good boy, you sensible... oh, I'm so glad. No matter what, Sun, you mustn't let me take any more of that poison." What she had done under that wretched thing's influence was reprehensible even to her. Sun deserved nothing less than her purest, kindest love, and she had exhibited to him her most depraved, base side.

She had to take this chance. Nihilego had tore her apart, had plugged into her corporeal form and made her its loyal sock puppet. Sun had saved her from herself twice. He was all she needed. He was. He could bring the family together again. Lusamine wasn't being evil by doing this, she wasn't, she cared, she loved him, he loved her, there was nothing wrong with what she had done, excuse excuse excuse excuse excuse.

She had to stop feeling these... regrets. She had Sun now. He was hers. His blonde hair was between her digits. His soft green eyes were peering into hers. What was done was done, and she could make the most of it now. It reminded her of when times were simpler, when his skin wasn't peeling away from his body. Eventually she'd just be able to relax and experience soft indulgences with him just as she'd always wanted. He was her canvas. Her little baby boy, her masterpiece, her magnum opus. There was much suffering on his road, but she knew it was for a good cause. She had to mold him and sculpt him carefully so that when the time came for her to divert all her love to him she'd have the perfect son she wanted. She'd make him forget and remember and forget until everything came together.

She'd loved him his whole life, watched him grow-

That wasn't right. That thought was a lie. She cast it aside, marking it as erroneous.

She'd loved him ever since she'd changed him, watched him learn to love her back both voluntarily before the use of the machine and forcibly afterwards. He was such a good boy. This was making her nostalgic almost for the time that she had struck the false Sun down and the thought to keep him as her pet had crossed her mind, locking him in the pit, performing all manner of surgeries to help him become beautiful.

She began to drift away into fantasy. Sun was alone with her in the mansion. Lillie and Gladion had been expunged from her home. Sun was as beautiful a young man as ever, and they loved each other with all they were, filling the hole in her heart that had existed for so long she had accepted its permanence.

Why Sun though? She knew why. It wasn't because he was a symbol of an enemy she had overcome, nor that he was a weapon to smite Lillie and Gladion's belief in 'heroes' with. It wasn't because he wasn't hers and it wasn't because she'd been impressed by his strength. It was his innocence, his obedience.

In her imagination he knelt for her, grovelled at her feet, begging for her love. She played with his heart but was never cruel. He had the cognitive ability to take over all the running of the Foundation and at last leave her free to do as she willed while he kept the place in top form. How he could calm the monster inside her and put her at peace with his voice and his words. He was a cure. And yet, by showing him the venom, telling him to take it...

She had almost turned Sun into herself, her shadow. Lusamine was secretly proud of Lillie. Somehow Lillie had always been able to resist it, perhaps because she wasn't taking any more venom. If Sun had become like the President it would have all been for nothing. He was meant to be perfect, and that meant better than her. His kindness, his intelligence... it couldn't be destroyed.

Sun himself was deeply confused. Lusamine was far away, lost in her fantasies and her imagination, her ideal, immutable future. Was it all a test? Was she going to get rid of him now because he hadn't willingly joined with Nihilego? He recessed into the bedsheets, pulling away from Lusamine. The action took her back to the present - why was he hiding?

"Sun, baby, I love-"

"I'm sorry, mother," he murmured. "Please don't- don't hurt me."

"I won't, Sun. Didn't you hear me? You're a good boy. You are," she insisted. "I was wrong and you were right."

 _'Not possible,'_ Sun's brain registered. She had to always be correct. That was just the way the world worked. "Mother, I'm sorry I disappointed you," he said. He shrunk deeper under the duvet, only his eyes and forehead poking out now. His limbs screamed in protest as he did. The ache was like a bloodless severance, uncomfortable, impossible to master the pain of.

"No, Sun. You're..." she caressed Sun's face with the back of her hand, "You're so smart."

"But you hurt me," he said. He wasn't speaking accusingly. He sounded ashamed. "I was bad. Just tell me what I did wrong."

"Sun." Lusamine was insistent. "You did the right thing. Your mother... she... she lost herself for a moment."

"Is this why Lillie and Gladion are afraid of you?"

That cut to her core. He was only being honest, being that innocent, sweet child she needed him to be to keep her sane. That he still hadn't lost that pure streak was an act of Arceus.

"N-No, Sun. I promise to you, I'll never hurt you again." How many times had she made these sort of pacts, swearing to do what she could not? "Honey, we'll be a real family." Why had it taken Sun being hurt to see what she had become? He wasn't her damn son. Lusamine's thoughts wrestled with that simple fact, trying to twist it, trying to convince her to ignore that and say it was destiny that he'd fallen into her arms. Telling herself he was what she'd wanted all along.

Another vortex of emptiness was opening inside her gut, reminding her Sun was not hers to do with as she saw fit, he wasn't a toy, he was her adopted son.  
"Mother, I'm scared of you."

 _'Oh Arceus, please no...'_ Lusamine begged mentally. Not now. Not when she wanted to turn over a new leaf. Not when she was ready to change for the betterment of all her children. She was ready to believe that love could quell how she was, what she was, that it could silence the evil in her soul. That she could stop her black heart from beating and feel warm blooded once again. That the dark and the dust could be cleaned off, and the knife could be withdrawn without inevitable exsanguination. "Sun, don't be scared, please," she said.

Sun pulled away from her hand as he had before the machine was used on him. He couldn't stop loving her now, surely. He wasn't created to ever stop adoring her. She hadn't thought it was possible. "I-" he made a noise of discomfort. "I don't want you to hurt me-"

"No, Sun, I won't, I won't-"

Sun's every portion of his body was taut with the pain of being tossed around, battered, every sinew stretched and bruised. He didn't believe her. "Mother, I... don't touch me..." he shied away from her.

She wouldn't force him into anything, wouldn't tighten the chains around him to make him obey. She couldn't abuse that power anymore. "Baby... Sun, honey, please listen to me..." There had to be a way. "What can I do to make it better?"

"Leave me alone," he mumbled and hid under the covers. "Don't..." he trailed away. Lusamine was in shock. How could this have happened? Her little boy, gone all wrong, betraying her and all she had done for him. He was hers. His body and soul were her damn property now, he shouldn't have a _choice._ She forgot her decision moments ago to not manipulate him.

"Sun... mommy loves you."

No answer. Did he think he was better than her? _Cleverer_ , just because he didn't take the venom? He wasn't better than she was. He was her slave. He was her trophy. He was her prize. And she'd claim it again and again if need be. Tearing his hiding space apart by ripping off the duvet, she watched as he tried to squirm away. "Sun- Sun," she said, catching him around the waist. He gave a short scream. It hurt to hear.

Lusamine pulled him to her side, where he wriggled desperately in an attempt to escape. "Sun, shh. Mommy's got you. You're safe. You're safe. Shh. Shh." He was still pushing against her in a panic. "Sun, it's me, it's me, please, Sun, baby, calm down..." Gradually his struggles grew weaker and weaker as he fell further and further into the influence of the drug she had become to him.

"Let me go..." he pleaded quietly. Lusamine's hands clamped over his mouth, and he shut his eyes in resignation. He let himself go limp and stopped all resistance. Her hands left him. "I... I lo-love you... mother..." he choked. He was still trying to prevent himself from speaking the words. She could hear it in his voice.

Lusamine had to turn up the strength of her power over him. "Sun, baby, you're perfect..." she caressed him in her hold, ever so gentle, treating him with the love he deserved. "Never again, Sun. Never again. Your mommy loves you," she lied. His mother was dead. She loved him.

"Never... again?" Sun tried to clarify it.

"Never." She was being very careful with him, massaging him in an attempt to make him lower his guard and forget it all. "Sun..." she embraced him wholly, lying back as he gave up all semblance of struggle. He leaned into her and took a deep breath of her scent, his body twitching orgasmically.

"Mo-other..."

Now he clung to her dependently and gratefully, as he should. She gave him the gift of this new life. Lusamine wouldn't ever hurt him again. He had to be close to her, he had to defuse her now. Her path was clear at last. She locked her fingers with his. "Sun, I'm so sorry..."

So much had been done in the name of that thing, Nihilego. So many terrible acts, touching the furthest reaches of justified morality. This had to be the end of it. Sun's eyes peered up into hers and at last she saw his intrinsic trust once again. Lusamine hugged him tightly. "Sun."

"Mother?"

"I'll change. I will. I will." She wasn't saying it for Sun, she was saying it for herself. "All of you, I'll love you all. Sun, I'm so glad you didn't... didn't..." she had nearly exposed him to Nihilego too. "Sun, baby, I need to... I need to be alone for a little while, I need to think. "

The pattern of their fingers, dark in light, shifted. Sun's eyes flickered with doubt again, but they softened quickly. "Mother, are you... do you..." he didn't know what he wanted to say. It was his character to want to help. "Hmm," he hummed as he fell quiet again, snuggling against her, now reluctant to leave.

"Oh, Sun..." she didn't have words. It was unfeasible that she could be thrown this far off her equilibrium by a little boy who thought the world of her.

The world had to balance out somewhere. The boy in her arms who she had realised she was truly attached to, who she wanted to believe really was her son, was about to become a nightmare, all thanks to her.

* * *

Sun was deluded. He had been since he was reborn, his directive to first obey his mother and worry about his own wellbeing second. Only fear had stayed his hand when he refused to take the Nihilego venom, and that to him was unacceptable. Lusamine was counting on him to be her perfect son. If him being scared was enough to make him disobey, he could never achieve that.

So he had to retroactively correct his mistake.

Lusamine was out of the mansion, tending to public matters as the face of the Foundation. Whenever she was among high-profile guests she made sure to never allow Sun to be close to her, for fear they'd see through him. She wasn't going to be long, and hadn't called upon Wicke to watch over the children. This was her first mistake.

Sun now had a goal in mind he inexorably marched toward. He slid aside the mirror to access the secret passageway that led below the mansion. Descending the thin corridor of steep steps, he trembled. He would make it right. He would obey. She'd said he'd done the right thing, but he'd disobeyed her, not listened to her orders, and that was shameful.

He had to allow Nihilego into him. He had to know it the same way she did. Maybe it was good. It was a way to become closer to her, and any way of doing that had to be followed through.

The air became cool and crisp. The Pokémon, unbeknownst to him, were still hidden under the black cases that matched the size of the ice blocks. In the centre of the room were the Nihilego shards.

His footsteps echoed. Tap, tap, tap... the rhythm ingrained itself into his own head, leaving it empty when he stopped in front of the alien body components. He had come here to prove himself, how dedicated he was to her, how much he would do to please her. When she found out he'd done it, she'd love him even more.

Surely she would.

Surely.

He twisted the release lever and the ice hissed. It shrunk back for him, presenting him with the shards that began to twist and turn, bending to feel out their surroundings. It was disgusting to watch, their individual malign intellect showing in how they all reached in different directions, unable to escape the ice, rolling like fat white slugs.

Sun took the largest. He needed as much as possible to prove that he was good. That he could be just like her. It was eight inches long and its point was like that of a needle. It tried to curl over his hand but Sun squeezed it, forcing it to conform to his will. Anger was stirring in Sun's subconscious for reasons he didn't have.

He lifted it up and pointed the needle toward him, intending to drive it into his forearm. Nihilego squirmed. He could see the black venom within the single piece bubbling and boiling.

Sun jabbed himself with the white syringe. After puncturing his skin it came to life in a whole new fashion, trying to force its way inside him. At first Sun was so shocked he couldn't react and it slid an inch deep into his upper arm - then he held it tighter and forced it to relinquish every drop of its nectar to him. "No," he growled to it. "You listen to me." Whatever possessed him to speak to it he didn't know.

The shard went limp, Sun withdrawing the slightly slimy creature from himself. His arm was bleeding slightly. No problem. He jabbed Nihilego back into the ice and twisted the lever again. He heard the ice crackle its way back over the components of the Ultra Beast.

Nothing was happening to him.

Why hadn't it worked?

Why was he...

Wasn't there supposed to be something else a high a feeling like floating a revelation a something a new a old a good a bad a light a dark a left a right a

TRIUMPH HE KNEW! HE KNEW he knew why it was it was because Nihilego WAS PERFECT! At last he understood. Lusamine wanted to protect Nihilego because Nihilego deserved protection. It was the final, beautiful master of all things and Sun would gladly become a host to it, he would allow it to grow in him like a flower in bloom, allow it to tell him sweet things and switch off all he was and make him become all he could be.

His mother was ALWAYS ALWAYS RIGHT because NIHILEGO was ALWAYS ALWAYS RIGHT and it was telling her to SAVE IT PROTECT IT. He had to as well. He had to give up his body for it, and he would. Every moment was a new enlightenment for him.

 **THOSE WHO STAND BETWEEN US WILL BE GROUND TO DUST.**  
 **THOSE WHO GIVE THEIR BREATH TO SPEAK AGAINST US WILL HAVE IT CHOKED FROM THEM.**  
 **THOSE WHOSE HEARTS BEAT AGAINST US SHALL BE SILENCED.**  
 **THOSE WHO ARE BLIND MUST SEE.  
**  
Nihilego was speaking to him he was sure of it. It was wise and older than the planet. It knew what he could never hope to know, never want to know - a burning black sun in a hellish red sky, beneath which hulking and diminutive Beasts roamed. Even thinking of reversing the connection they now shared and using it too peer into Nihilego's mind made Sun retch. It was like looking into a bottomless pit that only ate, ate light, ate soul and ate heart.

Sun was split in half by the monstrosity, the crime against nature, the hellspawn the demon the angel the god Nihilego. It spread love through his body, his veins choked with its being. He understood.

Nihilego wanted him and his mother, wanted both of them to protect it as it protected them, showing the parent and child infinite care and adoration in return for their unwavering vigilance in protecting it. They needed to get to it. Sun wanted it to consume him wholly, devour him in threads of venom that would pick his bones clean after showing him the culmination of all mankind could feel. It was showing him this new emotion, this unending pain and searing suffering - but it was bliss. It was just as he felt toward his mother. No... this was _stronger!  
_  
Sun became concerned. Lusamine was his. There was nothing, nothing greater than her. He didn't want Nihilego to take her away but it should, it deserved them both, it deserved all the love that it could be given. He wouldn't let it have her, though. Feeling Sun's resistance Nihilego forced more depraved imagery onto him, imprinting his mind with corpses of flesh things that had stumbled through Wormholes into Nihilego's embrace and had known true euphoria before death. Sun balked at the visceral sight in his mind's eye.

He needed that feeling. That pure, animalistic rush of primal force. He needed to reach Nihilego and allow it to consume him and his mother, and Lillie, and Gladion, and all of Alola if it wanted.

The last name in that list, the last human name, stuck out. Gladion. His brother, who had tried to drive Sun and his mother apart, who had taken him away to live with that awful professor and his strange shack of a lab, Gladion, who did nothing but reject all of Lusamine's love. Those who stand between us will be ground to dust. Those who give their breath to speak against us will have it choked from them. Those whose hearts beat against us shall be silenced. Those who are blind must see. Sun knew what it meant.

Sun's head was incinerated by the roaring flame of his spite, remorseless degradation of all he knew. "Liar, liar, Gladion," Sun managed. That he'd managed to put those words together in the mental state he was locked into was a small miracle - a black fluid, a byproduct of Nihilego infection ran over his lower lip and down his chin, dribbling. "Liar."

He took a shaky step back toward the mansion above. He knew what he had to do and how to do it. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and spreading dark liquid all around his lips, he staggered his way up the steps, an inhuman smile on his face, his vessel no longer truly his own. Nihilego was sharing with Sun, giving him some small amount of agency.

Unbeknownst to Sun, he'd failed to ensure the shard he had taken was completely refrozen. As he paced away to teach Gladion a lesson, it wiggled and shook, chipping away at the ice until it broke free and of its own accord began to move with its own intelligence, controlled by the Beast from beyond the veil of the Ultra Wormhole.  
It was looking for another victim.

* * *

Gladion had no idea.

When Sun had told him that he needed to speak to him, privately, Gladion had thought of an opportunity to lock Sun up, get Lillie and then force him off of the Paradise. That was not to be.

Gladion had the upper hand at first, leading Sun down to the small, hidden access port where the pit was. Gladion had spent some time there himself in his youth as punishment before he had first escaped with Null. Sun couldn't remember his time in it, so they didn't know they had the experience of being inside the pit in common. It was Gladion's idea to shut Sun inside, use the trainer ID with Lillie and escape. Gladion would take every chance he had.

The white square was unassuming, a small bolt lock the only indication that this was not a normal part of the Foundation's plating. The two boys were well out of the way of watchful eyes, which Gladion hoped could buy him some time. Sun watched him passively as he opened the trapdoors.

As they'd walked to the pit Gladion had noticed Sun sporadically and intensely glancing at him, in a way that reminded him of Lillie's recent nervous twitches or Lusamine's constant watchfulness. And he'd noticed something else too. Sun's eyes. They weren't exactly like his anymore. They looked darker, like they were wet. It threw Gladion off. The final thing to tip Gladion off to his 'brother's' current instability was the black liquid Sun seemed to be having a hard time keeping in his mouth. He'd kept on wiping his chin, thinking Gladion hadn't seen it.

Gladion had. And he'd seen it before, too, when his mother was having one of her less lucid moments. So Sun was likely in the final stages of her plan for him. Maybe if he could intervene soon enough...

"Alright, get in," Gladion said, gesturing to the pit. He didn't expect it to work right off the bat, and it didn't. Sun laughed.

"Gladion... don't think I don't know what you want." Sun sniffed and made a sucking sound with his mouth, the black overflow dragged back into his gullet briefly. "I know. I..." Sun stumbled toward him.

"Sun, I'm not going to-"

"You hate us, Gladion," Sun told him. "You..." Sun had staggered into Gladion's personal space. He put his hands on Gladion's hips, Lusamine's biological son uncomfortable with her adopted son's closeness to him. "You..." Sun placed his forehead against Gladion's but was distracted from speaking further by a long, gooey strand of black venom hanging from his mouth. Sun spat it out.

Gladion could feel a heat in his chest, in his shoulders, that told him this was dangerous. He had to run now. "Sun. I'm not trying anything-" the smart half of Gladion's brain was screaming, _'Fucking run.'  
_  
"Gladion," Sun stopped him, and the oddly similar but no longer identical eyes looked into Gladion's head on. "You want to keep me and mother apart."

Gladion tried to pry Sun away, and when that didn't work, he moved them both to be closer to the pit. To be in a position where he could shove Sun in. This had been a big mistake.

"You want," Sun said, "to take me away from her." He finally let go of Gladion, shaking with rage. Gladion knew he had to do something now.

Gladion pushed Sun, who wasn't expecting the strike and was knocked into the pit, staggering backwards, still too tall to close the trapdoor on - it was barely big enough to fit a crouching person, and Sun would have to be subdued for Gladion to lock him in.

Gladion dropped in after Sun and punched downward, Sun falling with a thump against the hard surface. It felt good to hit him. Gladion was willing to admit that. Sun cried out in agony and Gladion quickly stepped out of the pit and threw one half of the trapdoor shut, then while standing on the closed portion to stop Sun from reopening it and escaping, he shut the other half - or tried to. Sun barely managed to get his wrist out in time to prop the trapdoor open and Gladion wasted no time in kicking Sun's fingers to get him back into the pit, where he could lock him in.

"AGH!" Sun shrieked, and Gladion could hear him hyperventilating. Gladion crushed any pity he had for Sun and kicked again. Sun pushed against the trapdoor desperately and managed to push the half Gladion wasn't weighing down open again. Gladion kicked again, this time in Sun's face, emerging from the hole and into the light for a moment before Gladion's foot drove into his nose.

Sun flailed desperately as he was knocked back. Gladion had enough time to slam the doors shut and flip the lock before Sun could recover. Sun banged on the trapdoor from below, but he was stuck in the pit again - and the pit was bringing back memories he hadn't quite forgotten. The memories had an interesting side effect too - it quenched Nihilego briefly, made it harder for the Beast to influence Sun because there was so much more for it to contend with.

"L- LET ME OUT!" Sun shouted.

"You're staying there until we can fix you, you little-" Gladion was elated at his victory over Sun but Sun cut him off.

"Gladion?! What are you doing here?! Is Hau here too? Are you here to rescue me?"

Gladion didn't want to believe it. It could be a ruse. But Sun had mentioned Hau. "Sun, what's Hau's favourite food?" Gladion had to test. Make sure that Sun wasn't faking remembering.

Sun's mind went blank. He couldn't find the memory anywhere. It was one he had specifically fed to the machine to stall for time, so there was nothing at all to cling onto there, no piece of it that could be dug up. "I don't- Gladion, I tried to- Please, Gladion, I want to go home-"

Gladion made a gut decision and instantly pulled the bolt lock back and opened the pit again, Sun blocking out the sudden harsh light with his wrist. "Gladion, Lusamine, she, she kept me locked in this pit and made me look like her and said I was going to be her son, Gladion, we've got to-" Sun took Gladion's outstretched hand.

Everything was positive. Sun had been able to think about Lusamine and what he was now without switching back. The memories seemed to have fluctuated. He hadn't mentioned their time at Melemele island. Maybe he couldn't remember that right now. "Sun," Gladion said, trying to calm him down. "We're going to get out of here. I'm going to get Lillie. You need to wait in that pit a little longer. I'm going to close it, but I won't lock it, okay?"

"No, Gladion," Sun said, fear in his face. "No, I can't go back in there, Gladion, please." Sun was shaking his head vehemently, refusing to go anywhere near the pit, standing further from it than Gladion was. "Why is Lillie here? Is Hau here too? How did you get back here? Did you-"

"Sun, Sun, listen. You need to hide in the pit. Please, just be brave. I promise you, I swear, I'll come and get you out." Gladion needed Sun to trust him now. This chance was one he couldn't waste. "Me and Lillie, we're gonna get you away from Lusamine, we are." Gladion saw that Sun was showing no reaction to the word 'Lusamine' anymore. He could have cheered with elation if he wasn't so scared of 'Aether' Sun coming back at any second.

"...Gladion, please don't make me go into the pit again. What if she takes me away again and does something else to me, something worse? I think she's going to hurt my brain, Gladion-" Sun looked desperate, so afraid.

Knowing this had already happened made Gladion heartbroken. Sun was begging him to prevent an event that was already in the past from occurring. He took charge of the situation, standing firm and taking Sun's shoulders as Aether Sun had taken his waist moments ago. "Look at me. Trust me. Please, Sun."

Sun's lower lip quivered, his eyebrows raised in apprehension. He mouthed the word 'but.' "Gladion... she'll hurt me..." he started crying openly in front of Gladion. "The things I had to do for her, Gladion, I had to fake it, she made me kiss her, she made me-"

"Oh, Arceus, Sun," Gladion said, knowing all this had happened before Sun was mentally converted. "She's evil. But if you trust me, I can get you away from her. Now. But you have to get in the pit."

The strength in Sun's legs vanished and Gladion had to struggle to hold the younger boy up against him. This was completely the old Sun. The way he acted, the raw emotion. Gladion needed the other part of Sun, the one who battled and planned, the one who was driven by logic and determination. It was selfish of Gladion to think this - of course Sun should be emotional right now - but he needed that side of Sun to help him. There were so many Suns it was hard to keep track.

"Come on, Sun, please, listen to me, please," Gladion tried to break through again. "If you don't hide, Lusamine might find you. Just do it. Close your eyes."

Sun looked over his shoulder at the gaping square, unmarked, uncovered. He trembled. "Arceus, Gladion, I don't want to..."

"Sun, please! If you don't do it our mother will-" Gladion stopped himself short. Lusamine wasn't their mother, she was his mother. "If you don't do it- oh, no, Sun-"

Sun's face had gone blank. Gladion reacted quickly and pushed Sun backward toward the pit, but Sun was ready for it now and braced himself against Gladion's force. Sun cackled with maniacal laughter as Gladion tried to push him again, this time Sun grabbed his wrist and yanked it downward, planting his knee into Gladion's ribs as Gladion was tugged down by the force.

"Our mother, Gladion!" Sun closed his fingers around the back of Gladion's neck and thrust him forward with gusto, Gladion falling to his hands and knees at the lip of the pit, his eyes widening with unfiltered terror. "You're not worthy to call her your mother!"

"Sun, LISTEN TO ME-" Gladion pushed to his feet and Sun elbowed him back down to the ground again. "SUN, YOU HAVE TO-"

Lusamine's experiment gone wrong laughed and laughed, throwing his head back from the sheer hilarity of it all. "Gladion, I'm glad you reminded me. I just don't know what came over me." Sun kicked Gladion in the back but Gladion refused to topple into the hole. He put his hand out to steady himself and faced Sun, just in time to see the sole of Sun's shoe close the space above his face. He knew that he couldn't fall into that grave. He had to stay outside it and force Sun back in, but- Sun kicked him again- that seemed impossible. Gladion focused through the burning pain and saw Sun crouched over him. "You nearly convinced me, Gladion." He shot out his hand and clamped it onto Gladion's face. "Now we'll convince you." Sun pushed him back, back, back, tilting him gradually toward the edge.

Gladion growled. He'd fought Guzma before. Sun was a little bitch in comparison. Summoning all his strength he put his hands on either side of Sun's wrist and sharply pulled, knocking Sun off balance, then swept out with his leg to trip him. Sun fell beside Gladion and the two started a wrestling match on their knees, equidistant from the hole, right beside it.

Sun was still laughing, not even flinching. "Gladion, you always - hated me, hated how close I - was to mother, and hated - her too -" Sun condemned between hits and throwing his own punches. "You're sad. You can't - see that she -"

Gladion wasn't going to listen to any more rambling. He roared as he launched his whole body toward Sun, elbowing him into the pit and collapsing on top of him. They struggled briefly in the small space they now shared, but Gladion was able to kick Sun against one of the side walls, winding him. While Sun struggled to get up again Gladion hoisted his upper torso free of the yawning chasm.

"No, Gladion," Sun growled, not a single care in the world. Gladion felt Sun's hands clamp down on his waist and drag him back down into the pit, tossing him onto his back. Sun rested one knee on Gladion's chest and punched him in the gut twice in rapid succession. As Gladion reeled from the strength of those two decisive blows Sun let him have it.

Every part of him was lighting up with pain, and the corrupt Sun was not hesitating in the slightest to increase the volume of agony being dished out. Sun was going to kill him, Gladion realised. He had to beg. "Sun, stop- Sun-"

Sun's barrage stopped momentarily, only for Gladion to feel an unyielding grasp on his neck. Now Sun was choking him. The light from the Alolan sun above was making everything blurry, and he was seeing stars. Everything began to fade out, blackness creeping in the corners of his sight. Sun was going to kill him. Sun was going to-

"SUN!" Gladion rasped with the last of his breath. He pleaded with whatever could be listening in his muddled thoughts, begging a benevolent force to bring Sun back. It wasn't just Sun's life on the line now - it was his own. "PLEASE!"

Sun let go. Gladion heaved, his breath wheezing as he inhaled. He couldn't say another word, only splay out a hand defensively. Sun was cast in shadow, the celestial body he was named after hanging over his shoulder as if taking an interest in the beating. The brightness made it impossible to see a thing, much less Sun's face. Gladion took a few deep breaths.

"S- Sun, please-" his outstretched arm was trembling. "Sun-" Gladion didn't know if he'd survive another attack, and being unable to see Sun's face was terrifying. Was Sun just pausing to make him think he was safe or had Sun been able to remember something?

"Gladion, you took me away from her."

"NO, NO SUN, LISTEN-"

Sun hit him again and again and again and again and again and-


	30. ECLIPSE

_I keep giving bad people good ideas / I keep giving bad people good ideas / I keep giving bad people good ideas / I keep giving bad people good ideas_

* * *

 **Part Two: Eclipse**

* * *

Lusamine couldn't find Sun. The meeting she'd attended had been brief and pointless, and now she had come back to him missing. Was he still scared of her? She hoped not. She'd be kind now. She would. Lillie and Gladion would make good practice.

"You haven't seen your brother, have you?" Lusamine asked Lillie, entering her room very slowly, remaining calm. Just stay in control. In control.

"Which one?" Lillie asked, and Lusamine noticed Gladion was not present. Lillie was reading by herself. Lusamine also appreciated that Lillie had now accepted Sun was her brother.

"Both," Lusamine replied. "I want to..." she tried to finish the sentence, tried to apologise, but couldn't. Lillie wasn't looking at her.

"Sun came in earlier. He wanted to speak to Gladion." Lillie kept her tone flat to avoid angering Lusamine.

"Oh. Thank you," Lusamine offered, finding it difficult to speak the simple words to her daughter who she'd ignored for so long. "Do you have any idea where they went?"  
Lillie shook her head.

 _"MOTHER!?"_ Both of them turned to the source of the shout. It was Sun's voice. It sounded guttural and wrong. Lusamine instantly had a suspicion of what had happened and hoped that it hadn't. Had Gladion turned Sun against her? Was Sun intending to forgive Gladion now he'd seen her dark side Gladion had described? She couldn't fathom losing him now. He was going to be the most important part of her recovery.

She headed for the source of Sun's shout, Lillie curiously following along. They found him having just stumbled through the front door in a posture that reminded Lusamine strongly of Guzma, the way he slouched to accentuate his brutish frame. It didn't suit Sun at all. Lusamine felt something was off about him.

"Mother," Sun fawned, trembling as he spoke the syllables. "Oh, mother, you're so- so..." he trailed away.

"Sun, where is Gladion?" Lusamine asked, and she noticed Sun's glazed look. More importantly, she saw the black bubbles collecting in the edge of Sun's mouth. "Oh no... no, baby, no, Sun..."

Lillie knew too, but she couldn't let on. How had he been infected too? Had Lusamine done it to him on purpose?

Sun's hands were clenched into fists and light streamed from behind him, casting him in shadows. He was shaking. "What have you done?" Lillie asked, not wanting to hear the answer, and Lusamine not even ready to have asked the question.

"I killed Gladion."

Lillie felt a shard of ice grow from her heart, puncturing it and spilling hot blood in her body that burned her chest. He couldn't have. No way would Sun have let him kill her brother. Lillie made a noise, a buildup of that heat, that cold in her forcing her to. Gladion, the only one who was brave enough to take action... could very well be dead and gone, if Sun was telling the truth.

Lusamine didn't believe him, or she didn't understand him. "What?"

"You were, always. Always... right," Sun managed the string of words with difficulty. "Don't trust... love... nihil..."

"No, Sun, no, no..." Lusamine put out her arm very slightly to protect Lillie. Lillie was surprised by the gesture but was swept up in the tension of the moment, and stepped closer to her mother to hide behind her. "Sun, you didn't... tell me you didn't..."

"It told me what I had to do, I had to clear the-"

"NO! SUN, YOU-" Lusamine roared at him. She'd only just discovered the depth of her own infection and had decided to work past it - and here Sun was, doing as he had been told by her, having succumbed to Nihilego. "YOU-" she didn't have the breath nor the will to finish.

Sun was grinning. "I did what I had to do." The grin fell off. His eyes seemed to flicker. Lusamine noticed they looked unusual, darker than her own, the colour green too thick, too deep. "He kept me from you. I had to _destroy_ him."

"Sun... you-" Lusamine was clearly furious with him, with herself for allowing it to happen and for showing him Nihilego in the first place. Lillie still couldn't fathom the idea that Sun would have killed Gladion. Sun had to be lying, or Gladion had to be just knocked out or something. "Sun, show-" Lusamine stopped, gathering herself, "Show me, then."

Sun giggled manically. "Cer- certainly... mother..."

"Lillie, stay here."

"Mother, I can't- I need to know if-"

"No, Lillie." Lusamine commanded. "Let me- I'll take care of it." She took one step forward and Sun shuddered. A long string of Nihilego venom spewed from his mouth and pooled on the floor. Lusamine knew he'd taken way more than she ever had in one dose.

"Ungh..." Sun choked as more black mucus was rejected from his system. "Agh... I did... bad thing... terrible..." it was as if the innocent Sun and the infected Sun were at war. He didn't know what he had to resist. Emotion fed Nihilego, increased its strength over his body. "Something's _wrong_."

"Sun, show me- what you did."

* * *

The doors slammed shut. Lusamine looked aghast while Sun seemed hungry to hear her approval.

"Did... did-" Lillie began. She already knew. "He didn't..."

"He... Sun... he did."

Lillie felt everything drain from her. Her strength, her mentality, her soul, her fight, her heart, all were sucked into hell. She felt faint. "No... not Gladion..."

Lusamine took Sun by the wrist, roughly, angrily, and Lillie was too distraught to protest over her mother's handling of Sun's vessel. That's all it was, Sun's vessel - the real Sun would never have hurt anyone.

"Come with me," Lusamine growled at Sun while viciously dragging him upstairs to his room.

"Mother, what... ugh, mother..." he spoke with audible lust, barely contained by his voice alone. "Let me... ugh..."

Lillie heard some sort of violent contact echo out from the upstairs corridor, twice, three times. Sun had stopped speaking. "YOU _DISGUSTING_ LITTLE CREATURE! YOU _EVIL, SPITEFUL_ -" Lillie was still in denial. Listening but not caring.

"Wha- no, no, mother, I'm good, I'm-"

"SHUT UP! DON'T YOU _DARE_ TRY TO TELL ME- WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN? IT COULD'VE BEEN PERFECT! IT COULD'VE- I COULD'VE-"

Lillie heard a door slam and the macabre bars close over it. Lusamine had trapped Sun in his room.

"NO!" Sun shrieked. "NO! NO, NO, NO! LET ME OUT! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING - _I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T,_ _ **NO, NO!"**_ He was pounding on the door. He was not getting out, no chance. _**"MOTHER! NO!"  
**_  
Lusamine came back down the stairs as Sun continued to scream, beg for her to return and let him out. Lillie felt her mother touch her shoulder and was still too shell shocked to react beyond facing her.

The moment she did Lusamine's eyes rolled up and she fainted.

Lillie covered her ears to block out Sun's rambling and sat down beside Lusamine, eyes glassy, thoughts like an endless row of traffic lights too bright to pull any sort of interpretation from. This was not how she'd wanted this to be.

She could be crossing Poni Island, the last of the Alolan islands, with Sun now. Finishing the island challenge. She was going to tell him when they were done. How she felt, how she hoped he felt too. She wished she'd just spoken up sooner. She hadn't seen him finish his Ula'ula island trials - maybe he'd ditched them just to save her.

And now...

She removed her hands from her ears.

 _"MOTHER! PLEASE! PLEASE... MOTHER! I'M GOOD, I'M GOOD!"  
_  
She covered them again.

* * *

Time passed.

* * *

Sun threw himself against his bedroom door for the two hundred and thirty second time of the day. It didn't budge, so he howled again. The mixture of Nihilego venom, adrenaline and procedures that had already been done to Sun's head had created a terrible thing, a thing which demanded to be with its mother from within the confines of its room.

Lusamine had never intended for Sun to go so far as to present her with Gladion's beaten and bloodied corpse. It was impossible to tell if the Nihilego venom, his sometimes over the top loyalty, or the strength with which she had manipulated him had tipped him over that edge.

She had been horrified to learn what Sun had done. It had taken a very specific cover up operation to ensure that Gladion's death had no instant or severe ramifications for any of them, as eyes upon her family meant eyes upon Sun, in turn meaning awkward questions as to where he had come from. She and Lillie had grieved in private. Very few knew about Gladion's passing.

Sun's rampage had at least made her realise at last her own mistakes. She had kept far away from the Nihilego venom, needing to keep a clear head in the days to come. She had quarantined Sun in his room and was waiting for the venom to be expelled from his system.

He could be heard clawing viciously at the door whenever he thought someone may be outside and would slam into it to try and force it regularly. When he gave up on that, the howling started - like a Pokémon he would do it, but it always ended in a completely human scream. He'd audibly thrash about as the eerie howling became a blood-curdling shriek, punching and kicking. Lusamine had tried to reason with him several times by waiting outside his door and attempting to speak to him. Every time he'd just press his body against the door and listen to her words, while speaking near nonsense about wanting to make her happy and loving her.

She always tried to leave quietly, but he knew. He'd scream and beg and plead for her to not go, and he hadn't slept at all, constantly making noise and trying to escape.  
That noise kept Lillie in a state of perpetual fear. He would not stop because he wasn't programmed to stop. Lusamine was determined to wait out the effects of the venom, but the longer Sun remained in the emotional loop he was in the stronger it would affect him.

Lillie and Lusamine had become amicable to each other by necessity. By night Sun's howling kept them both wide awake, and by day his pleading wore on their mentalities. They sat together one morning, when Sun was quiet having finally exhausted himself.

"Mother, this is too far," Lillie tried to break through. To continue to keep up the illusion that Sun truly was her son was to continue the madness and insanity she had invited into her pristine house. "He's- he's not even..."

"Lillie, what's done is done. I have already taken him. I have to... I have to help him." Lusamine spoke into her hands, staring into them. There was still a very slight marring where she had sliced her hand on the shard of the mirror, barely visible at all. "I'll make him better, then... then we can be a family again. We can. We... we have to." During sleepless nights she tortured herself with gritty flashbacks to how mad she'd actually been, how many times she'd leveraged Sun to do exactly what she wanted, no more and no less. She had been abominable, tyrannical and twisted.

"Listen to what you're saying!" Lillie countered. "He's not my brother, he's my _friend,_ and I hate what you did to him and what you made him do!"

"It is all he knows now. The truth will only scare him. And he has nowhere else to go." Lusamine was right. The path she'd put Sun on was not one that could be backtracked. It could only go one direction - ahead, to the inevitable crash of the current moment. "Lillie, I need your help. You know him. I need you to help me make him better."

"You think I like seeing him like this? I want him to calm down as much as you do," Lillie told Lusamine, "but not for you. I want my friend back. I can see him. I'm only going to help..." she looked Lusamine up and down, disgust escalating in her features, "... _you_ if you let him go after all this!" The word 'you' sounded like she was trying to stab Lusamine with the syllable.

"He is my son-"

"You're insane!" Lillie derided, and Lusamine restrained herself from screaming all manner of curses at her daughter. "You're mad! You can't keep him, he- _he killed Gladion!"_ Lillie had negotiated her thoughts on that issue. She refused to believe Sun could have possibly done anything of the sort, that he'd just lost himself in the damage Lusamine had done to him.

"I know. It's my fault, all my... all my fault... I was wrong, I showed him it, I told him to take it, but he told me he didn't!" Lusamine tried to ramble her own jumbled, discombobulated thoughts to her daughter, but nothing resonated in the way she wanted it to.

"Mother... let Sun be Sun again. Please." Lillie needed this. She put her hands together and placed her elbows on the table, swinging her arms back and forth, begging.

"It is irreversible," Lusamine dismissed. Lillie of course knew this was not necessarily true. She locked her fingers in frustration at her mother. "I won't give him up, Lillie. He... he can help me."

Lillie exploded. _"HELP YOU!_ Like you _DESERVE HIS HELP?!_ Look at what you did to him! He is not a - not a - he is not yours! You hurt Gladion and me for years and years and you say he's different? Why? Why is Sun so special if he isn't even YOURS?! Why couldn't you love me -or Gladion?!"

"Lillie, I can't... I can't tell you... I thought... I don't know what I thought. At first I just wanted to... to scare you, I suppose... then he... he made me see." Lusamine never knew the answer to simple questions. Hard ones, yes, she could manage those. But any question that began with a 'why' regarding her motives was impossible.

"Mother, I want Sun back. And I want to be far away from you. No matter what happens, you can't make it up to me."

Lusamine understood. Anything she did would be too little, too late for Lillie. And that was reasonable enough of her to say. After all, Lillie had lived under her tyranny for far too long for Lusamine to truly expect her instant forgiveness.

"I can control-" Lusamine began, but Lillie cut her off.

"You can't! You can't control him, you can't even control yourself- _hrk_ -" The noise was involuntary, and Lillie's face burned as she realised what caused it - the remnants of Nihilego clinging to her outburst. "If you care about him, then let me take him away and look after him, because you- you can't." Lillie had tried to mask her motive of keeping Sun for herself and had done it somewhat awkwardly - Lusamine saw through it and narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

"And you've got his best interests at heart, hm?" Lusamine's face visibly twitched at the concept of having Sun taken from her again. "You don't just want him for yourself?" Lillie tried to keep a poker face, and barely achieved it. "He cannot be away from me. You know this. I made him to-"

"You're disgusting," Lillie interrupted. "I'm going to help him by myself. Not for you."

"I'm trying to be- be better, I can. I will. What I've done is what I have to work with-"

Lillie gritted her teeth and growled, standing up in protest. _"GLADION IS DEAD, AND YOU- YOU DON'T CARE-"  
_  
 _"I CARE!_ I JUST NEED TO- Lillie, there is still a chance for me to-" Lusamine had stood as well, leaning toward her daughter with a sort of desperation. She placed her index finger against her thumb and curled the other fingers on her hand inward, the gesture clear in its meaning. She wanted to cling onto something, anything. "- I can be right again. I know what I've done is wrong."

Lillie punched the table. "You don't care at all, you just want everything to be perfect for you. You-" Lillie lost all manner of civility in an instant as Nihilego twisted within her.

She grabbed the nearest object to her, the salt shaker on the table, and threw it at Lusamine. It hit her in the face.

There was a moment of pause.

Lillie wasn't quite ashamed, but she had to leave. Lusamine let her.

When Lillie had vanished from the room, likely to express her anger by herself. Lusamine moved excruciatingly slowly. Her arms raised in front of her, hands forming claws. She placed those claws under the table they had been sat at and flipped it over with a booming crash.

"AGGGHH!" Lusamine shrieked, the ferocity with which she vocalised making her throat feel raw and painful. She kicked the overturned table once and did it with such force that she needed to take a step back, almost overbalancing on her heels. This only made her more frustrated. She kicked it again, and again. She folded her hands over a leg of the table and tried to rip it off with no success, shaking it back and forth violently, childishly.

When that wouldn't give she turned, picked up her chair and tossed it down onto the table, smashing the delicate seat into splinters. Lifting up some of the more sizeable pieces she crashed them against one another until the anger dissipated, and everything was little pieces. She shivered with a sort of hatred, of herself, of Lillie, of Sun. Of Nihilego. All that it had done was take and take and take. She could see that.

Her hold on the last significant piece of the chair tightened. _"Nihilego."_ She let the mess lay where it was, and carried the piece of the chair with her to the chamber below the Paradise, where she confronted what she'd contained of the Ultra Beast. What Sun had delivered to her in attacking it the first time they'd met. Where Sun had stopped the invasion. What Sun had been infected by. It all came around somehow.

She unfroze the shards and watched them as they wriggled, slowly gaining the strength to venture away from the black platform upon which they had been presented. For a moment Lusamine was mesmerised. She remembered why she was there.

Smash.

Pieces of glassy biomass scattered beneath the force of the swing. Black venom sprayed from the inner biology of the shards like blood from open veins. "YOU TOOK IT ALL!"

Smash.

The smaller pieces remained still and lifeless, not enough in them to allow them to think independently. Larger, broken pieces still quivered and squirmed. "YOU-"

Smash.

 _"YOU-"  
_  
Smash.

 _ **"YOU!"  
**_  
No single shard had survived her wrath, all of them in powdery pieces on the immaculate white platform, marred only by the presence of what remained of Nihilego and its venom. The black puddles reflected Lusamine in all manner of disorienting angles.

She'd destroyed it all. It couldn't hurt her now. It couldn't. It couldn't. But it was still in her, still latched to her system. She had to resist the urges that symbiotic link gave her. "You RUINED ME! _MY FAMILY!_ YOU- you..." she let go of her improvised weapon that had been used to break the shards apart. It clattered onto the ground beside a pool of venom. Lusamine closed her eyes and sagged, defeat in her face, her posture and her sigh. "I did this."

It was her acts, not Nihilego. The Ultra Beast had merely enabled her.

As her fractured sanity began to finally reassemble itself, she repressed a sickness. She was surrounded by her own macabre displays, the frozen Pokémon she kept as trophies. Even if they were hidden away in black cases, they were still staring glassily ahead, unseeing, on the fringe of death's grip and life's touch.

"No... I didn't..." she pushed the palms of her hands into her temples, fingers extended. "I- no... no..."

She had to go back on everything. She had to fix it all. The task was monumental, insurmountable.

First she had to get Sun back, calm him down. Bring him around, and back to himself. She didn't completely understand herself the effects of the venom but would learn them and save him with that knowledge. Her. Not Lillie. Her. Even then, she admonished herself for failing to recognise that at least for now she and Lillie were working to the same goal and that it didn't matter so long as Sun was saved.

She could take care of all the frozen Pokémon later - it sounded like an excuse in her head. It was an excuse. Lusamine had to save it all now. Her life and her carefully tended plans, all that she was, was on a hellishly rapid decline into a deep, deep chasm.

* * *

Sun's reflection was cracked.

He'd broken the mirror when the changes had first begun, when his eyes had started to bleed. He'd screamed and screamed for his mother to help him, and when that didn't work asked for his sister, who also mustn't have heard him.

The door had little white wood chips removed from it. His nails were cracked where he'd dragged the pieces from the door.

He could feel the parts of him that were broken. That were still breaking, but he chose not to look. He had been tearing himself apart, first accidentally and then as a form of penance. He could feel more being torn off.

Sun's body became stiff again, his muscles tensing uncontrollably. He screeched through gritted teeth as the venom pulsed inside him. Nihilego squeezed his innards painfully and more black fluid was forced from his mouth. He lay on his side, shivering, his hand touching the door, tapping his fingers against it, refusing to give in.

 _"Help me, mother."  
_  
His request was answered. He heard the bars over his door shift with a loud clatter. His eyes widened and he sat up properly, trying to look normal even knowing how much he'd hurt himself.

The door clicked as it opened. Lusamine looked down on him.

"M-Mother..." he rasped, a smile unlike any other on his face, "I'm good, aren't I... I'm a good boy... I can be with mommy again..."

He was disgusting. His eyes had bags beneath them and his white skin - well, it was hardly even there anymore. He'd ripped off chunks of it off in self-mutilation, and the dark underneath was marred too, but he hadn't been able to rip it apart in the same fashion. His face had pieces hanging off of it, half her son, half just Sun. The Nihilego venom hadn't given his eyes a golden sheen either as it had to her - instead, it had caused the false green colouration to bleed out and she now looked at a strange dark blue instead. Streaks of that green ran down his cheeks and she could only imagine how he must have felt with all these changes happening to him while isolated. He was turning back.

What was once beautiful, on the cusp of perfection, was now abhorrent. The son she had mutating back into the creature he was. He was frightening in his transition - what with the pieces hanging onto him by threads and the false colouration of his eyes spilling down his face like running mascara.

"Sun, your moth- I don't want to see you right now."

"I- I understand, mother," Sun laughed in between breathless phrases. "I'm not _perfect_... but you'll fix me, won't you? Won't you help me become perfect again? Please..." he put his head against her waist and she wanted to push him away. This was a bad idea. " _Mommy, your perfect boy..._ " he purred as he pushed into her waist, basking in the contact he made with her, "Sun... he's going to... to be good again... he won't hurt anyone... so long as he's with you..."

Now Lusamine did move him back and away from her. She couldn't do it. She was too scared of what she'd done. Of Sun Elio returning to haunt her and her son being torn apart by him, the original clawing his way back out of the Aether Sun who had consumed him. "Sun. You need more time on your own."

His wide eyes became wider and his pupils became dots. "No." The prospect of such a thing was impossible to him. "No. Don't- I'll be good, I'LL BE GOOD!" He tried to get to her but she forced him back again, into his room. "NO, MOTHER, DON'T DO THIS, PLEASE, I'M GOOD-" she slammed the door in his face and locked it, the bars shut over it.

She could hear him screaming for her from inside, and backed away from the door slowly, the horror of what she'd done striking her. "Oh, Arceus," she intoned as the strength of her legs failed her and she collapsed, scrambling away from the door that she could hear Sun crashing against. She heard him hiss like an animal and his nails rake the door with a terrible noise. "Sun..."

"LET ME OUT! LET ME GO! I WON'T HURT ANYONE ELSE! I'M GOOD! I AM!" The door creaked in sympathy as Sun tried to punch a hole through it. "I CAN HELP YOU! I CAN HELP _NIHILEGO!_ " There was so much desperation and emotion in his cries that there was spit all over him, his mouth wet with strings of mad saliva. He slammed his head against the door in frustrated rage and fell back in a daze, blinking. "I'm good. I am." He smacked his hand flat against the surface.

He heard her move. "No. No, no, NO, DON'T GO, DON'T GO AWAY! _**MOTHER, NO!**_ " He pounded the white surface over and over, the final 'no' leading into a disturbed screech of pain. He sobbed wildly as he continued to attack his door. "Let me... let me out..."

He rested both his fists on the door and took a heaving breath, sucking in the air he needed to express his agony.

 _ **"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"  
**_  
The scream echoed through the house, curdling Lillie's blood and tipping Lusamine further into desperation. She didn't know what to do.

She didn't have control.


	31. PERSPECTIVE

"Faba. The sk- the skin."

"Yes, miss President?"

"I need it. He needs it."

"You understand that this task is nigh impossible, correct? Too thin and it tears easily. Too thick and he suffocates." Faba's nasal voice was already irritating her. "And there is the problem of-"

"You've had... you've nearly had a month." Lusamine could hear Sun's shouts, hopefully too muffled to be heard on the other end of the phone. "It has to be ready... soon."  
"Miss President, you do not sound well." Faba's comment was meant to be snide, but Lusamine thought it was genuine.

"I'm not. You know what's happened."

"Yes, yes, terrible business," Faba said without meaning a word of it. Lusamine just shook her head and hung up. Sun had stayed insane, perhaps even more so. Lusamine just wanted her little boy back, and which one she wasn't entirely sure of. Both was possible, Sun and Gladion - in fact, yes, both. She had to make it up to Gladion somehow, even though she knew she'd never speak to her son again. Gladion had lived a life of nothing but neglect and hardship and it was her own fau-

Lusamine groaned to interrupt her own thoughts. She was lying in bed, having handed everything over to Wicke for the time being and closing off the mansion completely to anyone without specific instructions from her. She was in her nightdress, and her hands lay empty by her sides now she'd placed the phone down.

"What the _hell_ did I do?"

Sun, her adopted son, was tearing himself apart. He had killed her biological son, Gladion. He had been driven to it by her command. By the Ultra Beast that had been the object of her obsession for so long until Sun had replaced it. It was ultimately Nihilego's fault, which had made it her fault, which had made it Sun's fault.

It was easier to think this way. She could identify the problem. Nihilego, that had been seen to, as far as she knew. The next step was herself. And she would forgive Sun easily. It was her influence combined with Nihilego that had turned him deranged.

She wondered how exactly she could change. "Where did I..."

She knew where she'd gone wrong. Many, many times she had been wrong. Maybe if she'd had another child who was just like Sun, she could have achieved this without all of the-

She had a child who was _'like'_ Sun, and it was Sun himself. She had adopted him. He belonged to her, and he loved it too, he'd _wanted_ it. Sun had stayed when he could have left. That alone had made her consider there was so much more to him, he understood that he'd be better off with her. That told her it was okay to keep him, and that she didn't have to torture herself over his position as her son. He _wanted_ that. He wanted to be her son - now she had to be his mother and not a monster, not a puppet for Nihilego.

He'd called her 'mother' after the very first time she'd showed him his new form. Of his own free will. Lusamine rolled onto her side, thinking about what he'd done. When he'd taken the lead while she was fucking him. When he'd sucked on her fingers like a baby. When he'd eaten her out from under his bed. When he'd expressed his love of her legs. All the thoughts made her feel something. Not warm and fuzzy, but cold and brittle, the sensation familiar but wrong. It was all wrong. She wanted to reward him as an apology. She'd save him from Nihilego's infection and then try to keep things as normal as possible... but they could be closer now and again.

Because he wanted it. And who was she to say no to the simple requests of a son so loving? He depended on her and she on him, and that relationship would blossom and be as beautiful as ever.

Lillie too. She had been strong, and she had been a voice of reason. Lusamine wanted to reward her, but not in the same way. Sun wanted her love: Lillie almost certainly would not. So Lusamine would think of a different way. A way that came to her instantly.

She didn't need the Cosmog anymore, didn't want that puppet master Nihilego to invade her mind and her family ever again. She could simply give Lillie the little Pokémon back and she'd almost certainly appreciate the gesture. Sun seemed to like that... what did she call it... 'Nebby,' too.

"The Cosmog..." Her voice felt too rough, like there was sand stuck in her throat, grains of it bristling and cracking. "The Cosmog." Repeating the phrase only made speaking more painful. Lusamine sat up and placed her hands on her knees. "I can... I can still..."

She felt like she was tricking herself. Nihilego had destroyed her. So much of her life had passed her by chasing it, and it was both a futile task and a net dangerous one. The idea she could repair her rent, torn and bloodied family had vanished with Gladion's life.

"But I can start... start again. Sun. Lillie. Lusamine. Sun. Lillie. Lusamine." The repetition didn't make her feel any stronger nor any more conviction for the task. In the past it had worked well to galvanise her, but now the names rung hollow. Sun. A mess of damaged, fractured, shattered thoughts and desires in contest with each other. Lillie. A cold, unfeeling, unspeaking, unknowable figure who was shellshocked and at the same time somehow still went on. Lusamine. A nervous, paranoid wreck obsessed with the idea of saving all she had lost and making a last attempt to drag all the broken pieces of herself together.

The game was up, it was time to admit that. Lusamine wondered what the easiest and least painful method of exit would be. Maybe hanging? Her bare feet shivered as they made contact with the cold ground. She was in two minds - one told her to quit, told her that ahead was an impossible road to take. Kill herself.

That meant leaving Sun and Lillie behind.

The other part of her argued that incessantly. She couldn't leave them. Without her, Sun would waste away. Either that or Lillie would undo her hard work - work that she had finally come to understand was grim and evil, but Sun was hers now. That was not about to change.

She had paced to her wardrobe without realising it, without even thinking about it. The surface was so sheer she felt a unforgiving burst of vertigo. Blinking away dizziness, she tried to concentrate on the moment. Sun gave a unusually loud howl that cut through that attempt, leaving her psyche in tatters.

Lusamine placed her forehead against the wardrobe as her legs failed her and she slid down the length, collapsing to her knees and then falling onto her side. "How could you have done this?" She flinched as Sun gave another noise of despair. "I just want him to be... to be happy... it's the least you could do..."

She hadn't intentionally broken the sentence so that it seemed like there were two people talking. "You need to help him. I can't. I couldn't help myself. All I ever did was destroy what I had. All I ever did was take what was not mine. But you can still- I can't. You must." Lusamine struggled to find any sanity she may have left unperturbed inside herself, now realising she was talking to herself. Her muscles twitched without her command.

"You need help." That rang true. That was fact. "Who's going to help me? Who can I tell about this mess?" Lusamine was speaking directly into the gap underneath her wardrobe, about a centimetre tall, and with a mass of dust beneath it. She exhaled heavily and grey flecks fled in her wake. The second voice in the conversation dropped out, leaving Lusamine alone again. "Sun," she began, "please, wherever you are... forgive me..." She'd never even thought about who he was before, or what he had done - she knew he'd wanted to change, he hadn't left, he was still with her.

Disgust was the bubbling broth of her discontent and there were sprinklings of regret dashed into it. It was hot in her ribs, searing her innards. She felt that if she spoke again some kind of automatic response would kick in and that stew of self-hatred would grow even stronger.

"Oh Arceus... I miss... I miss you all..." there was a humidity in her eyelashes and wind in her ears that signified she was going to cry. _'Women as strong as you don't cry,'_ she argued to herself, but the statement was systematically discarded. "If I do nothing, then... things will only get worse. I have to... I have to make him better." At last there was a clear path, a simple one. She could handle that.

For a moment she debated getting changed into her usual dress. Decided against it. She didn't need to look like the President of the Aether Foundation, she needed to look like a mother. She needed to look less formal, less... scary. She'd become to absorbed in her own image. The epiphanies were coming one by one, and each shone a brighter light onto her issues.

When she was infected she had lost her inhibition, had forced herself onto Sun. Sun would want to do the same to her - she merely had to restrain him and nurse him until he could overcome the addling of his mind. She'd take him down to her room and fuss over him until he was well again. Isolation would only harm him.

At last Lusamine had a hold on her thoughts, knew what to do based off of the various possibilities. Or did she? A seed of doubt had been sown into her heart, and with every beat the choking weeds grew. Nihilego was still a part of her. She had done enough tests on herself, in private, to know that even if she stopped taking the venom that Nihilego would still have some influence over her.

"I can't worry about this now," she dismissed. She was correct - Nihilego had been dealt with. She'd smashed every shard to pieces and severed its connection to her reality. There was nothing more to do there. Her task now was to be there for Sun and make certain he didn't lose himself entirely.

Another crash, muffled and smothered by walls, echoed from Sun's room. Sun's room. She could just... just pretend she'd adopted him normally, right? Just pretend. Just pretend... it'd be fine. Lusamine brushed herself off, pacing her breathing and remaining calm as she stood to confront Sun. Be gentle. Be kind. It was like learning to walk again. Everything had been reduced. Her emotional range, the colours, the sensations she experienced moment to moment had for the past years been enhanced by Nihilego. Without it, she was living with the filter she'd come to see life through turned off.

Everything was dim. Her head swam through thick black oil. She drowned in it. "No. No, you can't..." it was a withdrawal. A withdrawal from Nihilego and its nectar, what it had given her. It had given her love and she'd destroyed the source. She'd broken it. As the corrupted thoughts twisted and writhed Sun made another noise, wailing. "Shut up," she muttered. "Shut up... shut up."

At the same time the noise got through to her. Sun needed her help. He needed her help badly. "Stop. Stop, stop stop stop..." Lusamine gathered herself. "You need to help him. You're going in circles. Stop. Just. Stop. Just-" she clutched her head and her knees bent as she jerked about uncontrollably. "No, no. You need to- please, Lusamine, control yourself, please! Sun can help you, he can, but you need to-" she was finally moving without even commanding herself to. "-help him first. He needs you, you need him, you don't need that thing, that Beast. You need your family. You need Sun and Lillie. Lillie is fine. Sun needs you." Lusamine thought she had the sentences confined to her head, unaware she was speaking them out loud and how crazy she seemed as a result.

She continued to move without thinking toward Sun. His cries came closer and closer, forcing her into a state of awareness again. His name left her lips as she arrived at his door.

"Mo... mother... mother... please..." she could hear how quickly he'd locked into her voice and anchored himself to it. Again she questioned her sanity in deciding to change him so fundamentally. Her guilt could be put to rest if she merely convinced herself he was her real son.

"Don't fret, Sun. I'm going to help you." She moved the bars in front of the door, lifting them into the ceiling where they locked up against the pattern. It was no feat of strength, the bars were hollow and were simply to prevent the door being opened. They would have to be removed. Maybe she could go on a holiday with her children and have the mansion remodelled by a... reliable contractor. Go home to Kalos or visit Unova and hide in the hotel and drink senselessly. Instantly her thoughts turned on her again. A fucking holiday?! Now? What an imagination she possessed.

After postponing the act long enough, lost in thought, she entered his room. Sun was now restored or destroyed. Her perspective was unclear. All of her work on him was undone with the exception of his hair, which was still blonde. He coughed, but he was smiling.

"You're going to... to..." he was lighting up, his eyes shining with azure admiration. His synthetic skin lay in pieces, torn fragments scattered around him, almost light as paper and some shreds just as large as A4 sheets. "Mommy..." Lusamine ignored how his voice broke with insanity, and sat in front of him, ruffling his hair slowly.

"That's right, Sun. But you need to stay calm. Can you do that for me?" She made sure to meet his eyes. Sun didn't seem to understand at first. He spat up black venom. "Sun, can you do it?"

"Mother... mother..." he reached out to her. "Let me... let me..."

He grabbed her wrist aggressively, and the world froze in Lusamine's mind as he yanked her toward him. Sun didn't look human somehow - but Lusamine recognised his expression. It was a hunger she had displayed before. When she was under Nihilego's influence.

"Sun-" She felt a magma panic erupt like a volcano in her as Sun smacked her with his free arm in much the same way as she had to him when in Nihilego's grip. "How dare you-" he hit her again.

"WHY WON'T YOU LET ME LOVE YOU?!" He was an inversion of her. "I WOULD GIVE YOU EVERYTHING - JUST LET ME!" Lusamine flinched in the overwhelming rage of her son, blocking his next hit. Sun, unperturbed by her continued resistance, tackled her. Lusamine found herself trapped under him, with his hand on her waist, an empty starvation, forces of nature. There was nothing to describe what she finally saw. Nihilego turned humans to monsters.

"Sun, stop!"

"I NEED TO SHOW YOU!" He was now molesting her. "I NEED TO SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!" Lusamine gagged on the sickness of the moment, and Sun, interpreting it as an insult, hit her again, pushing down on her body with his. Lusamine knew it wasn't him, he was sweet, he was kind, he was cute - right now, he was none of those things. He was explosive, enraged, aflame.

He had put his hands on her hips and was painfully digging his hands into her, licking her face in a gross perversion of what she had enjoyed before infecting him. In between licking her he was gasping, hissing as he unleashed that monstrous side, untamed after Nihilego's tampering. "Mother, mother," Sun chanted, "Can you feel- my love? I- I don't need to... to hurt you, do I?"

He was leaving trails of black saliva thick with venom. Lusamine felt like she was going to be sick. This was how she had been. This overbearing, this far out of control. "Sun, please, don't-"

As she'd spoken Sun had panted, grinned and then mashed his lips against hers. The black fluid was dribbling into her mouth. Lusamine knew enough was enough. She tried to sit up. Sun kept her held down, and noticed her struggle. He leaned back to speak, wiping excessive venom from his chin. "You- you- are you trying to make me hurt you?"

Lusamine could hear his voice struggling, could see the little twinkle in his eyes even though they were now blue. "No, Sun, you have to stop-"

Sun grabbed fistfuls of her hair and pulled. Lusamine screamed, her ire reaching and exploding past boiling point in moments. Nobody treated her like that, ever, regardless of whether or not he was her son. Driving her nails into his wrists, she forced him off of her, shoving him sideways.

She could still taste the venom in her mouth and spat it out, onto the floor. Sun went to take her down again and show her his 'love' as she gagged on the familiar, friendly taste. She tried to stick her fingers down her throat, force herself to vomit and reject the venom, and Sun tackled her back down.

"GET OFF OF ME!" The President of the Aether Foundation threw him off of herself again, Sun hitting the wall. He hardly reacted to being slammed against it, but was stunned long enough for Lusamine to stand up. Sun looked ready to fight her if it was what he had to do, and she knew that Sun would never even consider such a thing otherwise.

She didn't want him to think that she was against him - he needed to be in a certain state of mind for her to reach him. Her experience with her own demons would serve her well.

"Sun. Listen to me." Some of his overbearing thirst for her vanished. His arms lowered marginally from where he was holding them ready. "Listen." Now he was ashamed, his eyes darting side to side and his unkempt, matted hair making him look wild.

 _'I can reach him,'_ Lusamine told herself. _'Just be careful.'  
_  
"I'm - I'm sorry, I didn't- I wouldn't... not me, not me-" Sun was leaning against the wall, hands flat and knees bent in a vain attempt to hide away from her.

Lusamine took cautious steps closer, as Sun continued to shy away. Sensing Sun was going to try and escape she hurried to close the gap between them and caught him in a hug. He tensed and she could feel his oncoming scream, but it didn't come. She patted his head slowly. The tightness of his muscles loosened with each touch on his scalp.

He was making a pathetic noise, like he was trying to half-growl at her. She continued nonetheless, knowing that she was close. The noise stopped shortly after she noticed it, and was replaced by his purr.

"Sun..." her hand extracted itself from his hair and rested on his cheek, "I've got you. I'm here."

Sun leaned into her hand passionately, closing his eyes in bliss. "Mommy, you'll make me well again... right?" She'd broken through.

"Yes, Sun. I will. I will. I promise." She'd taken a risk in embracing him but it had paid off. "Baby... it's okay."

Sun shuffled closer and returned the hug, glancing up at her. She could see the affliction begin to subside in his eyes. He just wanted to be held. To him, her acceptance seemed infinite, but he had to get closer still. As he rested against her, forehead against her collarbone, feeling the combination of the smooth dress material transitioning with her soft skin, she tightened her arms around Sun. The feeling and the act were gradual.

Sun sighed upon full completion of the hug, and the moment felt so powerful to his adoptive mother. Lusamine felt like she was being split open by a precise scalpel, felt like her heart was being drawn from her chest. There was a swelling feeling counteracting this, but it wasn't strong enough. Guilt and love fighting bare-knuckle inside her. "I won't hurt you. I can't. I won't."

Sun made a mumbling noise which was not a coherent reply, but felt enough like one. "Mother..." he said, and Lusamine squeezed him once reassuringly.

"That's right, Sun. That's right. I'm going to... to always be there. To look after you." She gritted her teeth in a futile effort to restrict her turmoil. "Everything... I'll... everything."

"Mmf," Sun agreed. His skin was now contrasting with hers instead of being identical. Lusamine's stomach turned. She withdrew one of her arms from behind him and placed her hand flat on his forearm, observing the difference. "Mother..."

Would anybody believe he was her son anymore? Outside of his hair colour they looked opposite now - before this there would have been no real question to a casual passerby. She couldn't just keep him pent up in the mansion any longer either. They all needed to get out of this accursed place.

"Sun... I- I know you're hurt, but- but I love you no matter what. You're... you're fine. You're perfect." She didn't care that he didn't look like her anymore and didn't want to 'redesign' him again. It was superficial, it was lies on top of lies on top of lies. She noticed he was dribbling spots of black onto her dress and ignored it, continuing to stroke him comfortingly.

Nihilego was losing control of Sun. He was siphoning sanity from somewhere and adding it to a reserve of his own. He was talking coherently now. "Mother, I love you... I love..." he sighed, his mouth dry of the venom that had been spilling during his psychosis.

Lusamine pushed down another rising wave of guilt and sung to him softly, a song that seemed too fitting.

 _You... are my... sunshine..._  
 _My only sunshine..._  
 _You make me... happy..._  
 _When skies are gray..._  
 _You'll never know, dear..._  
 _How much I love you..._  
 _So please don't take..._  
 _My sunshine..._  
 _away..._

Sun tried to remember something but the memory was blocked. He gave up on recalling whatever it was and allowed her words to drip into his ears like sweet honey. As she sung again, Sun knew there was no place he'd rather be.

"Mommy..." he mumbled. "I..."

"I love you too," Lusamine whispered. "Sun, your mother, she's never going to hurt you, never going to let Nihilego touch you again. You're safe with me. You're safe." Sun nodded calmly. He pressed closer to her where her other children would have been scared. He was too pure a soul. She felt motherly for the first time since Lillie was born. With Sun holding her and his assurance, his tangibility telling her that he was real, she was real, and this could still work out. Lusamine cradled Sun close to her heart, remembering Gladion.

"Sun... you... you can't do that ever again. You made me... very, very upset. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Sun..." she said. "You... I love you."

"I love you too. I'm very sorry. I should have listened." Sun's head was clear. He could see what he had done. They calmly remained where they were for a moment longer. Sun blinked. Lusamine's breath hitched unexpectedly.

"Sun, you need to be good." Her voice had broken as she spoke.

"Yes, mother." Her index finger tipped his head to one side, resting him against her chest. Sun purred. It wasn't befitting of her heir, nor any member of her family, but this was Sun, so she couldn't bring herself to train it out of him. It helped that the quirk had only grown on her.

"Sun," she said simply, her voice cracking again, tears clouding her vision. She hugged him and he hugged her. She silently cried as he patted her back childishly. The tears left hot trails on her face, running off of her chin and leaving dark spots on Sun's white shirt.

Sun stopped patting her back and rubbed it slowly up and down, in a comforting way. He was completely at ease again in her arms. He just wanted things to be this way forever from now on. He'd be good. He'd listen. He'd tell the truth. He wouldn't hurt anyone.

He'd be perfect for her.

Lusamine's breath came in short gasps as her love for Sun strangled her. _'I wish he was mine,'_ she thought, and the more assertive part of her thought back, _'He is. Be good to him.'_ Lusamine nodded to that thought, one of the few that hadn't betrayed her. "Sun?"

"Yes, mother?"

"You're still mine. You're still perfect."

"...thank you, mother." He didn't feel good about it. Not at all: he'd seen what he was now. He'd been horrified by his skin peeling off and coloration bleeding from his eyes. But she was always right. She was always right. "Mother?"

"Yes, Sun?" Lusamine looked down on him and some of the poisonous green of her eyes seemed to reduce in intensity down to a searching emerald; one that, instead of searing and burning the object of their attention, warmly appraised it. She felt that ache of unrequited love. Perhaps unrequited was wrong, but Sun's was not a natural adoration.

"Kiss?"

The question was so childish and so sweet. She knew what he meant. How could she not? But at the same time, she wanted a normal family now. She didn't want to violate Sun. She pursed her lips and kissed Sun's cheek. Lusamine knew from how restless he became that he had desired a kiss on the lips. "Sun, baby, calm down," she placated as he nervously twitched and glanced around.

"I- I need..." he began, but stopped himself. "I was bad. I don't deserve-" he looked distraught at his perceived greed, bowing his head in shame. Lusamine knew she couldn't be so attached, Sun's reaction paining her almost as much as her refusal seemed to pain him.

"Sun, honey, your mother shouldn't kiss you like that anyway." Lusamine had to ease him out of his dependence, if that was even possible. "It's not proper." Sun's expression crumpled further. She knew he would never 'go off' her, that he'd always obsess over her, every decision she'd made in his creation seeming obscene now. Arceus, if she could do it all again... if... but she wouldn't do it all again, would she? Wouldn't take him and... no, she would. She would for the sake of her own sanity. To fix her family.

"But I want..." he trailed away again, his eyes darting aside, then back to her. "One last time?"

It was like her head had filled with cotton. For a moment everything blurred into an abstract image, then she had subconsciously agreed to his request. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing at all mattered except Sun and the way his hands caressed her neck like she was made of slight glass that would fall apart under the smallest excess of pressure. He was... Arceus, he was gorgeous. Lusamine's brain melted into a puddle of uncomplicated patterns and paths.

"Mommy, I love you..."

Sun's lips were so soft as she knew them to be. The perfect shape for hers to meet, to explore from all angles of approach as Lusamine repeatedly pulled back to tease him and before he could protest kiss him again, a little longer each time.

"Sun," she murmured between kisses. "Son." Son. Gladion. Not Sun. Gladion was dead. Sun had killed him. Sun was evil. Sun was-

Lusamine wanted to choke the life from Sun. He held her neck with gentle care but she wanted to crush his in an unforgiving, unrelenting fashion, payback for killing her biological son. He was a vicious, mindless beast. Nothing more than a pathetic, obsessive half-person.

Just like her.

Lusamine hadn't moved to act on that violent impulse. She and Sun continued to move together and apart again with gasps and incoherent moans. "Baby..."

"Unh," Sun managed in response. He seemed high on her. He was high on her. "Ungh." He pushed his head against her neck and rubbed against it, continuing to moan and make the animalistic purring she couldn't help but adore.

"Ugh-" Lusamine shuddered as he pressed particularly hard, purring with a deeper tone. Her hand moved up his back and took hold of the black collar he had requested. She couldn't use it to pull him about. The front was open into two prongs like the ones at the apex of her dress and the collar itself would come off with a strong enough tug from behind as a result.

Sun knew that she'd grasped it though and seemed convinced that he was now at her mercy, staring up at her with his big blue eyes. Lusamine didn't want to threaten or coerce him into anything. She pushed him close against her and held him there, feeling his natural warmth against her cold skin. He was dark against her, but she couldn't care less.

"You were mine, you are mine, you will be mine."

"Yes, mother."

"You and I, together forever." Sun, Lillie, Lusamine. Sun, Lillie, Lusamine. Sun, Lillie, Lusamine. Sun-

"Y- yes, mother." Sun was so happy to be with her again, and for her to be kind and loving. The moment had to last forever, it had to. He wouldn't let it end. He blushed, chewing on his finger awkwardly as he pondered how to go about extending it. "Um... can we... can we kiss again?"

"Sun," Lusamine had to be at least a little stern with him. "I told you, we can't do that anymore. We have to be normal." She touched his lips lightly with her fingertips. "Sun, we have to be normal."

"But... I, um..." he tried to protest. He was going cross-eyed looking at her fingers.

"Honey, your mother still loves you." She fiddled with her dress, feeling a creeping rush in her head. "She loves you very... very..." Lusamine found herself accidentally trying to intoxicate him again. Restraining herself, she stopped speaking.

"And I love her, I do, please, let me-" Sun had already begun to fall under her influence again. Not Nihilego's - hers. The one she had programmed into him.

"Sun. Hush."

"Mommy-"

"Sun, no-" Sun was becoming increasingly restless. She tried to get a tighter hold on him but he rocked out of it, tipping her back a little. "Sun. Stop it."

"Mother, I have to, I have to do this, I-" he was silenced by the palm of her hand pushing into his face, holding him back from coming any closer. "Mother..."

"Sun, stop pushing me." He had been lying her back as he leaned into her, and she'd only just become aware of it. He'd been playing his own little game, possibly without realising it. "Sun, stop."

"Mother, let me, please."

"Sun." She took him by his wrists and held him back from her. "No." It'd be difficult to tame him, but she could do it. Lusamine brushed her hair to one side, and Sun mirrored the action subconsciously. She smiled at him and he froze. Lusamine recognised that look. He was enraptured by her. He mouthed a word she knew all too well from him. He wasn't straining to get to her now. Lusamine held out her hand, fingers stretched out, apart from each other. "Baby, just try this, okay?"

Sun raised his hand, mirroring her. Lusamine placed her hand against his. "Like this?" Lusamine loved that. The contrast. He was darkness and she was light, but they could coexist. He was her son. She nodded.

"Like that."

Sun began to calm down. It was like he was draining some sort of energy from her, using it to hold himself together. The feelings for her she had programmed into him were difficult to manage, especially for a normal life. They'd suited her just fine a week ago. Not anymore. Things had to be right.

"Mommy, can I sleep with you?" Sun only wanted to be with her, he knew that and she knew that.

"No, honey," Lusamine told him gently. "You need to sleep on your own."

"Please. Tonight. I'm scared of Nihilego."

Lusamine couldn't feel anything but pity. She kept her hand against his. She couldn't refuse that, either. It was her mistake, it was her fault. "Certainly, Sun, you can come down to my room. Just tonight though."

Sun made sure to not go too crazy over her as he shifted closer and hugged her around the waist. Lusamine closed her eyes and exhaled, returning the hug. "I'm so glad you're safe," she admitted to him. She'd never cared how people were so long as they fit like puzzle pieces. Lillie and Gladion had to be kept in line through physical and mental means. That was wrong. She had been wrong for so long, had made beautiful things disgusting in her insanity. She'd nearly destroyed Sun - in fact, she had, for a time. He had prevailed over the influence of Nihilego.

"Mmmm," Sun purred. Lusamine clutched him tighter, finally standing, Sun rising with her.

"Sun, let's go downstairs then." Sun was on autopilot, allowing her to guide him blindly to her room as he kept his eyes shut, breathing in her scent and clutching her nightdress.

Lusamine knew this was her last chance. She'd speak to Lillie and express her desire for a refresh of her life, to put the past behind her - and she knew it was a cop out. Lillie would see through this attempt to make her stop trying to 'save' Sun. Sun wouldn't want to be 'saved', surely. Not at this point.

As they left Sun's room, ransacked by his blind rage, Lusamine considered telling Lillie that Sun was feeling better. That she would have her 'brother' back soon. But... she didn't want to leave him. She didn't want to stop being with him. She didn't want Lillie to interrupt. She remembered the Cosmog. That'd keep her distracted. She'd have it brought up when Sun was safe.

"Come on, Sun. Come on," she encouraged him. Sun's blue eyes flitted open and he walked alongside her, breaking the hold he had maintained on her waist as she moved. The blue was something she'd need to get used to, but by Arceus, so long as he was safe and happy, everything could work out.

* * *

Lillie had been horrified to see it. She'd been sat on her bed crying when she noticed the white shard, the one that had escaped as Sun unfroze them. It had snuck up into her room and was lazily pulsating in a corner, waiting to infect her. At first she'd been careful, had decided to try and smash it with a chair leg from a distance.

Then her head had began to clear up. The only slight negative was a quiet buzz in her skull, but she could understand Nihilego's incomprehensible whispers to her. It wanted her to look after it. It wanted to be safe, and if she could make it safe, it'd teach her how to save Sun. How to stop her mother. Give her the strength she needed to do both.

If she'd have given in to it when her mother first attacked Sun, maybe things would be different... but Nihilego was offering her its power again, and she could not refuse.

Now it lay on her desk, trapped under a glass she usually kept filled with water in the night for if she was woken by nightmares, a regular occurrence. It couldn't see, but it was staring at her, and she was staring at it. She'd been repulsed by it when she'd picked it up, but now she sort of... wanted to let it share its venom with her, wanted to feel it take her concerns and toss them aside.

"Will you help me?" she whispered to it. "Will you... save Sun?"

Nihilego couldn't respond. It remained static beneath the glass.

"You- you will?" Lillie smiled at it. "I'm sorry I ever tried to resist you... I should have let you into my heart... into my soul..."

As she spoke, her green eyes faded to a dull gold, the remnant venom stirring.


	32. PARANOIA

Lillie's gift came to her shortly after Sun was fast asleep in his mother's bed. She was ecstatic to see Nebby at first, and Lusamine had been glad to see Lillie cheer up somewhat. They'd even had a reasonable discussion together regarding Nebby. The whole time, Lillie was blocking her mother's view of the single remaining shard, hiding it from her.

Lillie was wearing a mask she'd perfected after so long of hiding her feelings from her mother, so Lusamine couldn't recognise the resent behind her eyes or the quaking rage in her daughter's body. After Lusamine left, Lillie sat with Nebby, who floated around her. Lillie didn't have the time for Nebby's playfulness. She gripped the golden ring around Nebby's stardust body, and shook the Cosmog back and forth.

"Pew-pew-" Nebby spluttered in distress as Lillie waved it around. She tossed it away, Nebby spinning end over end and shaking itself off as it came to a halt. It seemed less scared by her and more confused by the rough way it was treated. Now more withdrawn, it approached her again, looking meek. "Pew?"

Lillie had given herself over to Nihilego now. She hadn't taken any more venom, nor had she really interacted with the shard, but she was on the path to seek it out and protect it in return for what it had promised her - saving Sun.

She had to. Sun had meant the world to her and now he was being dragged around by chains with hooks dug into his brain and a straitjacket closing off his thoughts. If she couldn't find a way to rescue Sun and make everything right, Gladion would have died for nothing. Gladion. Would he have seen Nihilego as an ally? Probably. He was smart.

And having Nebby back would push nothing in that goal of allowing Nihilego to take away her mother and leave her with Sun, free to escape the artificial island and with it the fate he had ahead of him as a disgusting perversion of himself. So Nebby was useless after all.

"Go," she hissed at it. "I can't do anything for you."

Nebby couldn't understand her words, but her scolding tone was one it was familiar with. Nebby floated a little closer to try and cheer her up. "Pew?"

"No! I can't help you get back to wherever you came from! I need to help Sun!"

Nebby recognised that name. It might have belonged to a boy who once fed it from the palm of his hand while rubbing the tufts of stardust that it was composed of in a soothing way. One who walked through that buttery yellow field to help it find its way back to Lillie.

Lillie herself was glaring at Nebby with a challenging look, eyebrow raised, daring Nebby to interrupt her thoughts again. Nebby grew concerned by her behaviour. "Nebby, you're not strong enough."

Lillie felt a sudden dash of inspiration.

"No... you are."

* * *

Sun was sleeping soundly.

Lusamine sat beside him, one hand over his, and with the other on her knee. There were the sounds of overlapping wingull cries carried through the evening air. "Why couldn't I have done it right the first time..." She'd promised herself she wouldn't take advantage of Sun, and she had. But that was because of Nihilego. It wasn't her. Now she could be better.

Ditch the obsession with the Ultra Beasts, do honest, clean work, cut ties with Team Skull. She could keep Sun. She needed to keep Sun. Her thumb rubbed back and forth on the back of his hand, which from time to time would twitch. "Sun, I'm sorry."

She'd already done everything, and it couldn't all just be undone with a snap of her fingers and a wish on a shooting star. Through heavy eyelids she gazed at him. "I'm going to look after you. It's... it's going to be alright, my sweet little boy."

She had her eyes dead set on him, and felt a tickle on the back of her neck. There was a sudden chill in the room, and Lusamine's head spun. Colours faded away into nothingness. "Nihilego... I don't need you." It was trying to draw her back, the mortal chains it had thrown over her pulled taut as she tried to escape them. They clinked, rattling like teeth. She could hear it in the back of her head. It was telling her how much she did need it, sinking its glassy tendrils below her skin and into her brain.  
"No. No, no, I won't let you..." it was creeping below her skin again, trying to help her seize whatever she wanted. "Stop it..."

Sun mumbled in his sleep, and Lusamine focused on him. Nihilego tried harder and her love escalated into desire, changing gear blindingly fast. _'Take what is yours.'  
_  
"No." Her refusal made Nihilego recede, but it wasn't defeated. She raised to her feet, making a very poor decision. "I'll drown you." She dug in the bedside table cabinet, extracting a bottle of Hoenneise wine. She wasn't a big drinker, but she still sipped wine at business meetings, promotional events, charity dinners. The bottle in question, if she remembered correctly, was a gift from Steven, Hoenn champion.

She sat back in her seat and realised she didn't have a bottle opener. She put her index finger and thumb on each side of the exposed cork and gave a pathetic tug. Digging her nails deeper she pulled harder and there was still no give. She glanced at Sun, and checked to make sure there was nobody besides herself and him in the room. She bit into the cork and tried to pull it out with her teeth.

It didn't work.

"Bottle opener..." she thought out loud. She checked her bedside drawer and saw one lying there. "Arceus's sake." Of course she should have known. She had important guests often enough... not lately though. She ripped the cork from the bottle.

Lusamine raised the whole bottle to her mouth and drunk from it until she needed air. She gasped both to fill her lungs and at the bitterness of the drink. "Ugh... this is not the way to..." While she recognised drinking could not be a way out of her situation, she still wanted to drown the pain somehow. Her inability to sympathise, to show love. It could be smothered in inebriation for the time being.

"Whatever." She turned red at her lack of self control and drunk the other half in one go, putting her wrist against her mouth to suppress a gag reflex. "Ugh." She instantly regretted her decision. "How many... units... of..." she slurred, before deciding not to check and leaning back on her chair again.

"Mommy loves you both. She... she does. And... she loves you too, Gladion." It was hardly a heartfelt nor satisfying eulogy, but it was at least honest. "I'm sorry."  
She'd poured so much into what had begun as an experiment for her amusement that Sun really was to her a member of her family. One who she had to learn to treat right, with Lillie's help. They could be a family again.

A small epiphany came to her. She didn't even care what Sun looked like anymore. His shed skin was a sign he was spurning the evil that she had forced onto him. With very little grace, nearly dropping her phone, she called Faba again, to tell him to immediately stop working on the synthetic skin.

"Miss President?"

"Faba... I wanted to tell you, you don't need to do the skin anymore." She kept her voice quiet so that Sun wasn't disturbed.

"What?" She could picture Faba's face and it made her chuckle.

"Don't bother with it. Don't... I don't need it."

"But what about - miss President, you don't plan to kill Sun, do you?" He sounded intrigued by her sudden change in heart.

"No. I just... he doesn't need it." She hated the suggestions Faba was making. He was so simple.

Faba was silent for a while.

"Miss President, I must ask, are you unwell?"

"Faba, I'm seeing clearly for the first time in-" Lusamine had to pause as she felt a hiccup brewing and resisted it. "- in over eleven years." With Nihilego gone from her trophy room and her concerted effort to resist its touch she was achieving a level of clarity, one that was sloshed in wine but far more stable nonetheless. "Now, please, resume your boring, Pokémon conserving work."

"As you... ah, as you wish..." Faba knew that it hadn't been a formal conversation, but his situation seemed to have changed. He'd continue to pretend to work on the skin until he could have a discussion with the President while she was sober.

Faba's life was in shambles, and it was all the fault of that Kantonian child who Lusamine had taken a shine to. Not only could the child fill his place apparently, but he could also do so 'better.' The boy had proved his argument thus: a whole series of notes on why Faba's plans and schematics were awful and how they could be improved.  
And he'd been right, was the worst part.

Faba did not seek mediocrity - quite like the President he sought out perfection. Hence, he'd been jaded to learn that Sun had improved his ideas so fundamentally and so often that the final products were unrecognisable.

The 'dark' wing of Aether science was always his domain, but the Beast Killer project was now being handled by a separate team following Sun's plans and working on the previous three Beast Killers, now known as Type: Nulls. There was also a measure of research being done to the Cosmog, until the President had chosen to withdraw it from the labs mere hours ago, if that. Faba hoped that she was not softening up. He'd made leaps and bounds in fields nobody else dared explore, and he couldn't do that anywhere else.

It was ironic then that one such achievement was the machine that had turned Sun from that irritating self-righteous speck to that irritating self-righteous mommy's boy. The longer he considered what had been done to the child the more he wanted to postpone the thoughts.

He had one ray of hope: a mysterious contact offering to help him in return for Sun's safety. If it was Gladion, that was a shame because the boy was dead. Under suspicious circumstances too. If it was Lillie that would surprise him greatly as he hadn't thought she had much of any guts in her. And if it was Sun fighting it, he'd be impressed. The procedure had ripped pieces of his old identity apart. If Sun recollected himself he'd either had just the right pieces left over or gotten lucky with one important memory remaining that he could hold onto.

The skin was already finished, but the damage that had been done to Sun was too great to even consider where to begin fixing his memory without constant access to the boy, which Lusamine would certainly not allow.

His datapad pinged and he put his company phone aside. Speak of the devil...

 **Come to the ground floor deck R hab block 08 tomorrow at earliest convenience bring datapad  
**  
Their vocabulary seemed to have degraded significantly. But they were someone on the inside, aboard the Paradise the same as him. Did he have any other options at this point?

* * *

It was dark and damp. Something was running down the back of her neck. Something else was dripping from her chin, running from her eyes. She was crying, but she didn't know why. Her vision was adjusting slowly, and she was sitting down somewhere, with something locked over her wrists. She tried to pull her arms away from each other, and the chain links became clear as they reached their maximum distance. She was handcuffed. That instantly ignited a burning, panicked reaction in her. She heard a nattering of a crowd, a murmur of disapproval, and then-

"Samantha Elsa-Mina-"

The mention of her first name, her real name, chilled her to her bone. Samantha. She hadn't heard it in years. She froze up with fear.

"-I have reached my verdict. I find you guilty of torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment, cruelty to persons under sixteen, incest, abduction of a child, and abuse of a position of trust in a relationship. Not only did you see fit to torture this young man and break his mind so utterly he became wholly devoted to you, but you then abused that trust wholeheartedly and repeatedly indecently assaulted him. This case has been one of the most disgusting and repulsive I have ever encountered in all my years, and the repercussions of it will echo through your organisation for years to come..."

The speaker was made of shadows and fear, impossible to look at without being reduced to a ruined mess of terror. Lusamine trembled. "No... not my... not my son..."

"You continue to show signs of wild delusion and your mental state is the most terrifying part about this whole case - you only showed any signs of realising you'd done a debased act when the child escaped your care and was able to contact the police. He will be confined to an infirmary for the rest of his life - what you have done to him has left him permanently mentally scarred. He may never recover."

The judge figure gestured and Lusamine looked. The darkness of the room recessed and revealed Sun, with a shadowy burly figure standing on either side. "Mother, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told them. It was... it was _him._ He told me to. He's a bad boy, mother." There wasn't any of the _other_ Sun left, was there? Had she missed something? Why would he betray her trust after all she'd done for him? No, this was her fault, not his, he had- no, this wasn't his fault at all. This was her fault for hurting him so much, ruining his head, leaving him crippled without her to guide him and to be there for him.

"Sun..." Lusamine whimpered. "I'm so sorry..." She tried to reach out one hand and the cuff link clicked. She had to reach out with both.

"Mother, it'll be okay, right? They'll let me stay with you?" He too was holding out his hand to her. It was white again like hers. She wanted to touch that Sun again, just- just another time, just a- she knew that the fake skin was awful, coating him in her existence, covering his body with a synthetic representation of hers, but she _had to touch that Sun again and-  
_  
"I sentence you to..."

"Sun..."

"Mother?"

"Life imprisonment..."

"Sun..."

"I love you, mother."

"Take him away."

"NO! NO, SUN, NO! NO! _NO, DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!_ _NO!"  
_  
"Mother, I don't want to go..."

"Life imprisonment..."

"NO! SUN! _SUN!"  
_  
"Mommy..."

"NO! _YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!"_ It was for the best that he was with her, that was what was important-

"No, I don't want to go..."

"S-SEE? _HE HAS TO STAY WITH ME, HE HAS TO-"_ Lusamine hung onto Sun's words, his placid request to stay with her-

"Mother, they're- mother, I love-"

 _ **"SUN!"  
**_  
And then he was gone into the dark and the judge was all she could see. The image changed and now black vines crept over the figure and girdled it, choking it. Another voice spoke in her head.

 _"I can save you from this fate."_ The judge was being ripped apart by the black ropes, shiny and bubbling with viscous fluid. Tendrils hung languidly from above and Sun was being carried by them gently, looking serene, angelic. They gradually descended, giving Sun back to Lusamine while the judge was destroyed. _"You just need to protect me."  
_  
Lusamine hugged Sun tightly, and he cuddled her in return. Warmth filled her stomach as she ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. "Mother... you'll protect Nihilego, right?" His voice didn't seem right, and a cluster of tentacles was rising behind Lusamine. "So we can stay together forever? So they won't take me away? So the bad boy won't tell them what you did?"

Lusamine knew it had to be a ruse. Nihilego couldn't manipulate her any longer, it couldn't. "Sun, hold onto me, baby," she asked of him, but Sun was already slipping through her fingers. "Sun, hold onto me."

"Mother, you need to protect-" her arms and legs were ensnared by the black ribbons, "You need to protect Nihilego, or-" the Beast pressed in from all sides, wrapping her whole body, leaving only her mouth and eyes. She was being lifted up, away from him. She tried to scream but it was gagging her. Thinner feelers wrapped over her fingers and she tried to claw at them with no success.

 _"Just say that you'll care for me, and I'll take care of you,"_ it whispered to her through Sun. His eyes were yellow now, and the tendrils were coming from him, from his wrists, his veins blackened with poison. Lusamine kept her mouth shut. It wouldn't break her. It couldn't-

Nihilego crushed her ribs. Three of them punctured her lungs, and her spine cracked from the pressure it exerted. She lost all feeling in her waist down. Her delicate wrists snapped and her skull cracked apart, and all she could do was scream agony as she

Lusamine woke up.

She gasped a panicked breath, hand over her heart. It was thumping wildly like the tread of a herd of Tauros. "Oh, oh thank fu- thank Arc- oh... oh my... oh..."

Sun mumbled beside her as he woke up. "Mother... what's wrong?" He rubbed his tired eyes, and saw her pale face, her scared eyes. "Mother?"

"Oh, Sun..." She budged closer to him and hugged him. "Oh, oh my Arceus... oh..." Sun held her like he had in the dream. Lusamine took great comfort in that.

 _'I can save you from this fate.'_ It was still inside her. It was still among them.

"S- Sun, you're a... you're a good boy, right?" She held him uncomfortably tightly, and he squirmed a little in her arms. "You'll never... never tell them... you wanted it, right? You wanted it?"

Sun looked perplexed. He blinked at her, trying to think of a response. "Um... who?"

Lusamine's hasty false smile dropped like a stone and she shook Sun angrily, sitting up with him to do so. Sun became increasingly agitated. "Sun, you'll never tell anyone, right?"

"Tell anyone what?" Sun's thought process was faltering, trying to answer questions before it understood them. Unbeknownst to Lusamine, Sun was becoming more and more volatile with every moment he couldn't answer, scared that she was going to attack him like she had before he'd been infected.

"What- what I did! Sun, you wanted it, right? You stayed with me! You wanted it! You did!" In both her hangover (which was beginning to make itself felt) and terror, Lusamine had completely forgotten that she'd erased all of Sun's memories about the event in question. There was no way for him to answer.

"Mother, I don't know, I don't, I-"

"Sun, just say that you won't tell them-"

"Tell who?"

"Just say, Sun, please, just say-"

Lusamine's hands were squeezing his shoulders painfully as she begged him to forgive her. Sun reached the breaking point of all his stress and opened his mouth to scream. He did. The sound brought Lusamine back to the moment in an instant.

"N- no- no, baby, no, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I hurt you-" Lusamine stuttered, too quiet to be heard over Sun's yelling. "Baby, no..." she tried to touch him and he pulled away from her. "Please, please, Sun, let me- let me-" he was lying on his side with his hands over his ears, screaming. "Sun, Sun, please, let me-" Lusamine's own composure cracked and she began to cry. "P- please... please... Sun..." She tried to take his shoulder and comfort him but he shook her off. "Sun, honey," she said, trying to speak softly to coerce him out of his panic.

"No," Sun moaned to himself. "I don't know, don't ask me," he rambled.

As Lusamine opened her mouth to speak, she heard a noise from the front door. She glanced up and narrowed her eyes at the source of the sound. Her heart sunk. _'Oh no oh no it's the police they're here to take him away they're here why didn't you just trust Nihilego why why why why why-'  
_  
It was paranoia, there was nothing to worry about, nobody could have contacted the authorities, she was safe, Sun loved her, she loved Sun. But nobody should be coming in to her home at this time, right? Or leaving... maybe Lillie had decided to go for a morning jaunt. It had to be her.

"Sun, honey, I'm sorry..." she tried to pry his hands from his ears, but Sun resisted her. "Baby, please, please-" Sun was kicking the mattress now, shrieking.

"NO, NO, STOP IT-" Sun blubbered. Neither of her other children had ever reacted so explosively toward her, and ordinarily she'd already be contemplating disciplining Sun. But she had to change now. She took a deep breath.

"Sun?" He didn't reply, so she looked left and right for an answer. She wanted to investigate the source of the noise, but wanted Sun to be calm first. She tossed the duvet back over him and his wails almost instantly stopped for some reason the moment he was in the dark, confusing Lusamine. "Sun?"

"Um... I'm okay... sorry, mother."

He was still such a mystery. She wanted to get him tested for... something, because he couldn't be all right in his head. He was smart, but awkward and often lost in his own thoughts. Maybe there was still something on him that she could find in a Trainer registry system. They'd thrown away his Trainer ID and there was no way he'd be able to remember it himself, so she'd have to do some digging for information on him. Her attention for now was on the source of the sound, so that could wait. "Sun, I'm just going to leave you for now, your mother needs to check on something."

She stood and crept to the door. Eking the door open an inch she peered out and saw the Cosmog floating about the room, a little ball of energy. Below it, Lillie stood, facing her directly. The sight scared her - at first she had thought it was Nihilego, having found a way back into her home, there to enact vengeance for destroying its gift to her. Lusamine pushed the door open further and the creak made her head pound painfully. Her hangover was now in full swing.

"Lillie?"

"Hi, mother!" Lillie greeted, almost too enthusiastically. "I'm just going to the conservation deck," she lied with ease. "Nebby is staying here."

"Um, do you want me and Sun to come along?" She could calm Sun down further and distract herself by choosing to visit the Pokémon with Lillie. She needed a clear head. Nihilego was continually reaching out to her, and even looking at Lillie she could feel the electric energy Nihilego had given her once again crackling in her blood. She had to stop dressing Lillie up as Nihilego, too. That had been what had scared her.

"No, mother, I'll be fine," Lillie dismissed.

"You- you'll be back for lunch, right?" Lusamine asked, trying to make small talk. The sooner she worked on being a better person, the sooner that her life could be normal again.

"Maybe," Lillie replied, sounding short-tempered. It was unlike her to be so brash.

"We can have whatever you want," Lusamine wheedled, trying to sound nonchalant, kind, like an actual parent.

"Thanks, mother," Lillie said but she hadn't paid any attention to the words that had been spoken, and Lusamine could tell something was off.

"Lillie?"

"Yes, mother?" Now her voice had serious bite, serious venom to it.

"I love you."

"I'm going now." Lillie didn't wait for her reply, throwing the doors open and placing her white sun hat on her head. Lusamine watched her leave. As the doors shut she felt something cold touch her hand and gasped, whirling to look at whatever it could be. Nihil-

It was just Sun, looking to hesitantly take her hand, rubbing his eyes on his sleeve. "Oh. Sun." She let him hold her hand and turned back to the front door, slightly suspicious. Lillie had been distracted by something. She had a lot of work to do to figure everything out.

* * *

Lillie walked with a spring in her step.

She could impress Nihilego far more than her mother could ever hope to. She looked like it thanks to Lusamine. Scant days ago she had been angry at being constantly compared to the Beast. Now she wanted nothing more than to be just like it. At first she'd seen that shard as a disgusting worm, a maggot, something filthy, but now the trails of black venom it left in its wake were like solid gold.

It was a gorgeous little thing. She'd stroked the single shard goodbye, and it had curled between her fingers affectionately before she replaced the glass over it, hiding the glass under her bed.

It could tell her what to do. It could make her brave like Sun was, strong like Gladion had been. It could make her better, it could make her smarter, and all she had to do was look after it. All she had to do was love it and care for it and do nothing else and it'd take care of her in return and hand her all she ever wanted on a black platter.

She wished that she'd brought the shard with her. It was so... so important to her. It was all she needed. Except Sun. But it would help her with that. She'd refrained from taking more venom, but she could really do with a little boost right now... right now. There was a ringing whine in her ears like a car revving up, increasing in pitch and volume, making her eardrums swell in pain.

Once she'd arrived at the place she'd agreed to meet Faba, her mouth was slick with saliva and a taste of something unfamiliar. Every colour burned into her skull like a inferno of sensory enhancement. Through the haze she saw the Branch Manager. He'd always creeped her out, but now she was in charge.

"You?" Faba questioned. "I didn't-"

"Pad," Lillie demanded, extending her hand to take it. Faba snickered to himself.

"You are not my boss," he reminded her. "And I have no reason to aid you whatsoever." He always had to make things difficult, always had to be slimy and snotty and snide. Lillie didn't have the patience for his snarky attitude.

"You want to become President of the Foundation. I don't care about the Foundation. I don't care about this place. All I need from you is information." Her hand was still outstretched, and she flexed her fingers to take the datapad.

"About what?"

"Ultra Space. I'm thinking of sending my mother on an extended vacation." Lillie now looked at him directly, her eyes shining with that spark of gold, her sun hat cloaking them in shadows.

Faba looked shocked - then he smirked. "This will be interesting."


	33. PLOTTING

Lusamine had downed three cups of tea and four Kalosian croissants in an effort to mask her hangover, and it was working relatively well. Combing Sun's hair was a simple enough task to return some sort of delicate control to herself. They'd both gotten dressed and ready for the day now that they were awake, and it was time for Lusamine to take the reins back from Wicke. Firstly though Lusamine wanted to make a fuss of her son. She'd sat him in front of the mirror in his room and now was trying to style his hair into the exact same pattern it had been when she first saw him. It had never quite been the same in her eyes.

It was... strange. Now he looked similar to how he had then with the singular exception of his hair colour. It was still her shade of blonde. "Sun, honey, you don't mind looking different, do you?" She hadn't asked him his opinion on the matter yet, and knew that as a parent she had to put him first all the time. She still had things to change about the way she acted, and could make those changes now.

"It makes me feel weird," he admitted to his reflection. "Why am I different?" He tried to look up at her as she pulled the comb and it got stuck in his hair as he moved. "Ow- _ow-"_ he flinched and Lusamine quickly undid her mistake.

"Sorry, honey."

"It's okay," he said, getting his smile back. As an apology, Lusamine tickled the base of his neck and he giggled, trying to get away. "Mother, stop it!" She laughed too, hiding it behind her hand, still holding the comb.

"Oh, Sun..." she scratched his scalp, eliciting a purr from him that she was embarrassed to see her own reaction to in the mirror. Her expression was so sappy that it made her blush, and that only made it worse.

Sun continued to talk to himself in the mirror while she scratched his head. "Um, I don't know why I started to, um, break apart, but it made me scared because I was on my own, and I was still, um... Nihilego was-"

She didn't want to hear that creature's name. It was in the past. They had to move on. "Sun, honey, don't talk about that thing, okay? We're going to put it all behind us."

"Yes, mother." He hesitated, then continued. "I, um, I was scared, but then you helped me," he looked at her in the mirror, and they met each other's eyes. Lusamine resumed combing his hair, trying to get it just right. "And you said... it didn't matter."

"So my word is law?" Lusamine asked, partly joking. "It doesn't matter because I say it doesn't?"

"Of course!" That made her stop and think. That was how deep his love for her ran. Even deeper, probably. She had to allow him to think for himself. "I mean, I'd rather look just like you, but-"

Lusamine tuned out. She wouldn't make Sun look like her again. He didn't deserve that kind of torment if his new skin started ripping apart. She'd had Faba work on the formula but now she didn't care enough to have it finished, and had told him to stop. She'd rather Sun remained himself.

"-mother?" She hadn't paid attention to what Sun had said.

"Huh? What was that, honey?"

"If you're okay with how I look now, that's fine with me too." His smile looked a little nervous, like he was trying to please her. And he would be - she knew how he'd function.

"Honey, if something's wrong, you let me know." She began to work on his fringe, the most important part, sweeping it to the right. "I just want you to be happy." This was easy, Lusamine thought. She just had to be kind. It was so simple without Nihilego to cloud her judgement. "Okay, honey?"

"Yes, mother," he said, but didn't protest further.

"Sun, how do you like it?" She stepped back, satisfied.

"Um, I-" he took his fringe and pulled it down over his right eye. Lusamine's stomach twisted. He only did it to look like her. "Like this."

"No, honey, that doesn't suit you at all," she muttered, fighting to keep her voice calm. Of course that would be what he did. "Come on, let's-" she lifted his fringe up again, over his eyebrows. Sun's face fell. _'Oh Arceus,'_ she thought.

"Mother, I-" he raised his hand to try and sweep it back down.

"No, no, Sun, I like it like this." She focused on his hand. It had frozen centimetres away from his hair. _'Don't,'_ she thought, trying to push her unspoken command into his brain psychically. _'Don't.'_ His hand slowly fell to his side. Lusamine exhaled. Sun's smile was gone, and he looked uneasy, but as she continued to fuss over him he found it again. "Oh, my sweet little boy, you look perfect." She didn't think too hard about what she'd just done - prevented him from thinking for himself. She squeezed his shoulder as he stood and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.

"Thank you, mother."

"Oh, darling, you're welcome," Lusamine smiled. "Now, your mother has to get to work, but she'll see you again for lunch, okay?" She hugged him quickly then went to leave.

"Mother-" Sun called after her. She hesitated.

"Yes, Sun?" She already knew what the question would be.

"Can I come?"

"No, Sun." She had to go and show around some students from a Unovan university, then sign off for another import of Corsola while making sure the previous batch were ready to be rotated out. That wasn't even mentioning all the admin work she had to do between the tasks. Wicke would have been taking care of it, but after Lillie rebuffed Lusamine's suggestion for the whole family to visit the Pokémon with her, Lusamine had chosen to take over the Foundation again immediately in order to have something to do.

The issue was now Sun looked nothing like her, and he was likely to do something rather embarrassing with her in public. It would be difficult to convince people he was her son now that he was so much like his original self. She could forge an adoption certificate, certainly. But she didn't want him to think he was adopted. He wasn't after all - he was made for her. He was always hers.

"Honey, I'll be back in no time. Be right back." She smiled. Sun still looked disappointed. "Oh, baby, come on, you know I can't be with you all the time..."

"I know, mother. I just... I don't know what to do while you're gone." His voice was lost, pathetic.

"Sun, you can call for whatever you like from the kitchens, you can play with the Pokémon on the conservation deck, you can look after Nebby for your sister," Lusamine wondered why she'd left it behind, understanding that in the past her daughter and the Cosmog were inseparable. "Sun," she said gently. "There's plenty to do."

"Okay."

Lusamine looked at him sadly. "Honey, I'm sorry."

"S- see you later, mother."

Lusamine quickly rushed over and kissed him on the cheek again. "See you later, Sun." He hugged her, and then watched her leave.

Lusamine checked one last time to make sure she looked pristine, viewing her reflection in a window while she headed off to greet the Unovan students. It would be good to get back to work and start a new chapter of her life.

Their teacher was Cheren Komor, head at Aspertia University. She'd heard of him before - friend to the hero who had driven Team Plasma to the brink of destruction and mentor of Nathan Kyohei, current Champion of Unova and famous Pokéstar Studios actor. Team Plasma had been useful contacts in the past, but it was just another connection that had to be severed, another weed to be pulled up from the evil garden of what she had been.

"Hello, miss President. I hope you are well." He spoke with strength and certainty, reminding her of Guzma but with none of the roughness or the growling spite.

"Lusamine, please. And I'm fine, yourself?"

"Quite well, thank you."

The gaggle of students had fallen quiet at her appearance. The boys were awestruck and the girls were starstruck. How would they react if they somehow saw the truth? If they found out what she had done to someone younger than themselves at a whim? It made her feel ill.

"Welcome to the Aether Foundation. My name is Lusamine, and I am the President here, but you surely already know that." Unbidden, her head hurt with the remainder of the hangover and she flinched. "Um... let's begin the tour, then!" Arceus, this would be a test. But if she passed it, surely, surely that meant she could become normal again.

* * *

Lillie was plotting. She'd had Faba send her all the information that the Foundation possessed on Nihilego and had acquired the case that her mother had used to extract Nebby's energy and force it to open the Ultra Wormhole.

But now she had an even more insidious plan, one that would work exceptionally well - a plan without any faults. She had the shard. She had Nebby. She had the means to open a portal to Ultra Space. All she had to do was bring it all together.

Now she was wandering around the conservation deck as an alibi for if she was asked where she'd been, when she heard her mother's voice. "This is the general conservation deck. The only deck open to the public at all times, this facility runs around the clock - but I don't. I need my beauty sleep."

Lillie scowled. _'I'm going to take everything from you. I'm going to destroy you, bitch.'_ The vulgar thoughts were not unbidden and she let them stew and bubble. She wanted to make it clear she wasn't afraid anymore, and was on a mission.

"Oh, and, there's my daughter, Lillie," Lusamine said and waved to her. Some of the students she was with waved politely and somewhat awkwardly too, and Lillie resisted giving them all the finger. She was fuming. Wherever the anger came from, she had no idea, but that whine in her ears had reached a painfully high pitch. Bowing her head, Lillie rushed to the nearest elevator to both spare herself from being associated with her mother and to hurry along her plan. First of all she needed to poison Lusamine with Nihilego venom, make her return to the fold of devout followers. Then, when she'd stopped resisting Nihilego's gifts, she would open a portal with Nebby and send that bitch straight through it.

She and Sun would be free. She could have him back at last. The nightmare would be over. 'Aether' Sun dead and gone. Her mother finally dispatched. Gladion lost. But what she had... her head hurt suddenly. She and Sun would be- _one with me_. She could have Nihilego's love at last. The nightmare would be beginning. Aether Sun a part of them. Her mother consumed. Gladion saved.

What? What had she just thought? That wasn't her, was it? That was something else, something primal, evil, but not Nihilego. Nihilego was love. Nihilego was strength and power. Nihilego was everything. _Everything.  
_  
The assailing of her senses was continuing. She wasn't used to this new level of awareness. It was one of many new powers that Nihilego had bestowed upon her so that she could achieve all her goals and execute every plan with the precision of a cold surgeon's scalpel. She felt like she could see everything and hear all. Lillie was descending on the elevator, and into the atrium. The people below looked lesser. She could destroy them all if she pleased, but they weren't important enough to incur her wrath. A tiny voice spoke from her chest.

 _'Lillie, it's not you...'  
_  
Her eyes darted from left to right, feeling too large. She was fooling herself. This was her. This was all her. "It's me." Lillie placed her hands on the rails around the elevator. "It's all me. It's all mine." As she spoke the words she smiled, and a strand of black led from her mouth. She wiped it away, but it stuck to the back of her hand. Gripping the furthest end of the strand, she began to pull it up and off of her hand... and it stretched... and stretched... and _stretched._ Lillie was the only one on the elevator but felt very self conscious about the act of making such a fuss over the venom. It snapped like elastic and Lillie twitched with discomfort.

"That's disgu..." she couldn't go on. That wasn't true. She couldn't lie. "That's... it's... beautiful." It looked like oil now, reflecting a rainbow. She hadn't noticed the colours in the venom until she looked closer. Look closer. Trust. Believe.

The elevator reached the atrium, Lillie now rubbing the venom into her skin, trying to spread it out and make it vanish. The patch where she was rubbing turned red under her aggression, and she felt a strange tingling in the spot. She took her fingers away and saw that the alien compound had been absorbed through her skin. A vein in her hand was now black.

Even addled by her affliction she did a double take at the sight. "Oh." Her thumb started to shiver. "That's... probably... not good." She watched as the black spread further but grew lighter, and her whole hand began to twitch. "Oh. Oh no." She quickened her pace. As she had been walking she hadn't looked up once, and still somehow knew exactly where everyone was around her. She was the centre of the world now. It wasn't luck and it wasn't skill, it was simply that everything orbited her thanks to Nihilego.

She emerged from the main complex into the sunlight, onto the pathway down to the mansion. The trees on the path were still. There was no breeze. There was nothing. No waves. No clouds. No birds, no people talking, nothing. The load on her mind trying to categorise and comprehend her senses was taken off and without it she could think straight again.

"Oh Arceus. It's- it's _inside-_ it's inside _me..._ "

 _'You're mine.'_ The stress doubled. Now it was intensifying her panic to keep control of her.

"Stop-"

 _'Stop resisting.'  
_  
"Oh, Arceus, stop," she whispered.

 ** _'Stop resisting.'  
_**  
"No..." her heart was beating faster and faster. "I'll kill you. I'll kill that last piece of you."

 _'Lillie, I love you.'  
_  
"You're lying." It was speaking to her in memories. Sun's voice, mixed with Lusamine's voice mixed with Gladion's voice mixed with its own voice. One that rumbled and quaked and growled, churned like it was drowning in amniotic fluid. Something old. Something older than old. Primordial.

 _'Lillie, I love you. You love me too.'  
_  
"No, I-" that noise was back, and it had already struck that sweet spot of volume and pitch that disoriented her and left her without a sense of herself at all.

 _'Lillie,'_ it said. It used Sun's voice. _'It's going to be okay. I'll help you.'  
_  
Lillie pushed open the doors to the mansion and fell to her knees. She lay down flat on her face and rolled onto her back. "Do you promise?" Lillie whispered to the ceiling. "Promise me that he'll be safe. Promise me that she'll be gone. No other... no other... no catches."

 _'I will take care of you.'  
_  
"I just have to... take care of you, right?"

 _'You understand.'  
_  
"Thank you."

 _'Thank you, Lillie.'  
_  
She sat up, leaving her hat in front of the entrance to the mansion. A slight crack of light shined through the door, which was ajar, not fully shut. The beam of light appeared to cut the hat in two.

She walked to her room with her confidence back. Sun could wait. Right now she had to make Nihilego safe. She quickened her pace as she reached the summit of the stairs and barged into her room with no hesitation, instantly looking under her bed for the glass with the shard beneath it. It was waiting, one sharp end in the air like a head on a snake - serpentine described its actions well. At the 'sight' of her, the 'head' raised higher, expectantly. Lillie cooed at it while Nebby tried to get her attention. She swatted Nebby aside and lifted the glass off of Nihilego, extending her palm to it. It squirmed into her hand and curled over her fingers.

"You really do care, don't you?" In response it traced lovingly over the spot where her veins had blackened earlier, and she saw now the venom had spread enough to make the vein look clear again. "You like that spot?"

Nihilego slowed down and was more deliberate. "I guess that's a yes," she chuckled. Nebby soared into view, taking interest in Nihilego.

"Pew?" It was watching the shard without the usual passive, naive interest, and with a kind of kinship. Nebby and Nihilego were both Ultra Beasts, after all.

"Nebby, leave Nihilego alone."

"Pew?" Nebby floated closer.

Lillie's fist closed over the shard. She stood up. "NEBBY! WHAT DID I SAY?" The Cosmog flinched and made a noise, hiding from Lillie. She watched it zip under the bed.

"That's right. You stay away."

 _'Thank you, Lillie.'_ It had adapted. It was almost entirely using Sun's voice. She felt an instant of doubt and its influence on her mind plunged deeper and harsher. She bit her lip accidentally in response to the sting.

"Was that a reward, or a..."

 _'It is,'_ and Lillie now heard it pulling voice lines from her memory together to mask its real voice, ' _whatever you make of it.'  
_  
"Hm." She could taste the blood from where she'd bit her lip, like copper.

* * *

Sun had heard the front door open and had jumped out of his chair, sending it across the room with his enthusiasm. Then he'd heard that it wasn't his mother returning, but his sister, and he'd dejectedly turned around, dragged his chair back to his desk and lay his head over his crossed arms again, pushing a pencil around his the surface. He wanted something to _do._ After a while of literal pencil-pushing he stood up again. Maybe there was something else he could wear, to make a change for his mother. He didn't know if she'd like it or not, but it was worth a try, right?

He checked the wardrobe, flinging open the black door with too much energy and making it hit the maximum extent of its hinge before bouncing back at him. He stepped back out of the way then approached the door with a little more consideration, now opening both at the same time. "Oops," he muttered.

Taking a look inside, he saw the same shirt over and over, repeated neatly. He had known that there would be nothing different - every day was the same. He always put on a different shirt of the exact same colours, different trousers of the exact same pattern, slipped on his collar and went to find his mother. He rifled between each shirt, again knowing that there was nothing different to find.

He sighed when this was proved true, and shook his head. It'd be nice to look a little different for her, unless of course she wanted him to look the same all the time, then he'd be fine with it. He just wanted a reward from her for making some sort of effort. She'd said that kissing him on the lips 'wasn't proper' and had avoided it since.

He wanted that again and he didn't know why. He'd been ashamed to have loved her so deeply at first, then she had reciprocated those feelings toward him, and in his mind that had made it okay. He'd gotten used to how close they were and how far they could go: now that was gone he felt sort of... empty, unfulfilled.

He hung his head, lost in thought, and noticed something at the bottom of his wardrobe, crumpled and creased. It was a T-shirt, one that was actually different. This one had blue stripes, three of them along its length, with the uppermost stripe having a circular patch of white cut out of it, the base colour of the shirt. It was almost scary.

He held it up in front of himself. It looked to be a perfect fit. He pulled off his white and gold shirt and replaced it with the white and blue one. "Huh." He checked how he looked in the mirror. His head hurt. There was something familiar about the shirt. Was it something he had when he was little? It couldn't be. It fit him fine. He hoped his mother wouldn't get angry with him, or ask any more questions he didn't know the answers to. That had scared him - he'd prided himself on being able to answer all the time.

Sun played with the bottom of the shirt awkwardly, blinking as he wondered if he should wear it or not. "Um..." he squinted, trying to work out what exactly he was missing. There was something on the tip of his thoughts, trying to speak to him, but it was muted. It wasn't audible, under something shushing it.

He pulled the shirt off again and replaced it with the white and gold one, hanging the blue one with his others. It was important to look just like his mother, but he wanted to keep the other one just in case. The thought of looking just like Lusamine took root in his head and he questioned why he'd even considered the idea of looking different. He had to look just like her because she was perfect.

Now he wanted to destroy that blue-striped shirt because it was wrong and strange, not like everything else. It wasn't something that Lusamine had set out for him, so it was unfriendly and alien.

But something made him leave it be. Something said, 'you'll understand later.' He hoped that was true.

"NEBBY, WHAT DID I SAY?"

Sun jumped in fear. He shut the wardrobe in a panic, hiding the shirt inside, as if it was something to be ashamed of. He knew it was only Lillie, and that she probably wouldn't mind, but all the same he didn't want anyone seeing it. He felt like it had to be a secret.

Lillie wasn't normally that angry, either. He didn't want to get in her way while she was upset. Maybe later he'd ask her what was wrong - then it crossed his mind that she was still angry that he'd killed Gladion. He wanted to hide under the bed again, afraid she'd burst in and scream at him too. He felt so very guilty over the whole ordeal, and knew his mother was trying to help him through it, but he was weighed down by what Nihilego had made him do.

For a moment he went to sit down at his desk again, then heard Lillie's voice again, calmer. He didn't hear what she said. Sun wanted to listen in on her conversation but she was probably only apologising to Nebby. He changed course and sat on the corner of his bed, stroking the expensive sheets back and forth, tingling on his fingers. He lay back into the duvet and sighed at the softness. He was craving Lusamine. She surrounded him. He didn't associate her with the colours of his room and his clothes - he associated the colours of his room and his clothes with her.

"Mother," he whispered to himself, "Come home soon." He was pining for her so strongly and they'd only been apart a matter of hours. If she'd have given him a task, something for her, for the Foundation, he'd have set upon it with gusto. But he hadn't seen the Type: Nulls, they'd been taken away - and Faba had made his stance on Sun clear. Sun felt so alone without her. He had no friends, he'd killed his brother, and his sister seemed distant and was probably angry that he'd killed Gladion.

Sun was alone. Completely, terrifyingly alone.

He fell asleep there, taking a nap, waiting.

* * *

Lusamine pushed the doors open and almost immediately tripped over Lillie's hat. She kicked it aside. What on earth was it doing there? "Sun, honey, I'm back!" Lusamine heard him rush to get down the stairs as soon as possible, and beamed at him as he came into view, stepping so fast he nearly tripped. "Hey, did you get on alright by yourself?"

He rushed into her arms and she stroked his hair. "Mmm," he sighed, happy to have her back. "Yes... yes, mother, I was fine."

"Oh, honey..." she glanced up from him. "Is Lillie back yet?"

"Yes. She's been in her room, talking to Nebby." This was pure conjecture on Sun's part, he'd just heard her talking to herself.

"Could you go and fetch her, dear?" She patted his head affectionately and he nodded, dashing off again. She watched him leave and felt a whirling emptiness. Her earlier fussing felt false in her memory. Her emotional range was being divorced from her. Pretending to be normal, even for a few hours, had given her time to think about what she'd done. And Arceus wept, she'd done terrible things to him.

But she'd made him. She wanted to love him and look after him and nurture him and tell him she would always be there for him. The only way that she could come to terms with what she'd done to him was to ignore it and pretend, pretend he really was hers. That he was more than just a confused and transformed teenager with an intellect far too large and a world that had become far too small under her control. Her mental health was taking repeated, crippling blows. Without Nihilego to buffer her, she-

 _'I am not going looking for that thing.'_ She wasn't going to give herself reasons to seek it out and wasn't going to let herself slip back into oblivion as a result. Sun and Lillie were important. They needed to be looked after. _'First, darling,'_ she thought, and realised it was her own schizophrenic voice speaking - not Nihilego. _'First, darling, you need to sort yourself out.'  
_  
She wasn't wrong. Her emotions were all a hurricane and her thoughts couldn't be any more disorganised. She was swimming back and forth in tossing and rolling waves that pushed her further out to sea. Some of the waves told her one thing and some told her others. Thoughts of Sun. Was he an innocent little boy still, who had just been pushed over the edge by Nihilego, or was he a volatile monster who she couldn't hope to wrangle? Was he safe? Did she love him or was she just afraid of him?

There was still that photo, and she was gravitating towards it. The one with Gladion and Lillie as children. Gladion.

"I'm sorry..." she apologised as she picked up the picture. "Gladion, I didn't mean for him to... for him to -" her finger traced Gladion's cheek, and she could see her digit trembling. "Gladion, I'll do better for you." She missed him. If she had been able to speak to him again as she was now she thought he may be more likely to understand and try to help her work through it. Her situation was horrible. Sun believed she could do no wrong and Lillie seemed like she had given up on her mother entirely: which Lusamine couldn't blame her for.

Lillie was still there, though. Lillie could see the change. Lillie would be the proof of that change. If she could make Lillie believe that she was a good person again, as impossible as it seemed, then she could at last stop fighting herself.

Her eyes at last settled on herself in the picture. She was wearing the old trademark dress of hers, when she'd first taken over the Paradise. A split half-black, half-white dress, a gold band around her waist. The crystal on her chest had been sapphire blue instead of emerald green. She glanced down at her physical body, not the one captured in the image. Something about her now seemed inferior. She still had those dresses, but they had gone out of fashion - or rather, she'd changed since then. She'd created a new image, this white, gold and black... these colours that swirled and blended into each other all around her. This chapter in her life had to end, and the sooner the better.

Lusamine decided she would go back to the old dress. The old dress was more like her than her current one. She could see her own struggle in it, the two halves, light and dark, her inner conflict represented outwardly. It was contrived and silly, certainly, but she had a soft spot for poetic oddities like these. It was worth a try.

She replaced the photo from where it had sat on the mantelpiece as Sun skidded back into view, Lillie casting a cold glare following him. Lillie had hidden the shard in her hand and carried it downstairs with her. It was an exhilarating risk, but if her mother or Sun even tried to pry Nihilego from her hands she'd teach them the error of their ways. She'd keep it hidden as long as she could, but needed it with her to boost her confidence.

Sun ran straight back into her arms while Lillie tutted with distaste. Lusamine glared at her daughter. Sun couldn't help what had been done to him. It wasn't his fault. They could only work together to make him feel safe again. "Mother, I love you," Sun said, out of the blue, giving Lusamine an indication of just how badly he was pining for her while she was gone. He must have been bored out of his mind, barely stopping himself from walking out and trying to find her.

"I love you too, honey," Lusamine said. Lillie had stopped at the bottom of the stairs and had her eyes fixated on them both, which was unnerving. She'd usually look away or find an excuse to ignore them both but now she was watching with intent, judging. Her eyes looked totally dead, empty, almost unseeing while still very much being focused on Lusamine and Sun's embrace.

Lusamine let go of Sun, self-conscious under her daughter's stare. Sun however clung onto her. "Mmm," he sighed contentedly. Becoming increasingly frustrated by Lillie's near-voyeurism, Lusamine gradually pushed him back and away from her, which Lillie seemed amused by. "What's wrong, mother? Am I-"

"Nothing's wrong, Sun. Nothing at all." Lusamine made a point of picking up Lillie's hat and flipping it over in her hands, then put it on her own head - doing it on purpose to make Lillie angry. It was unlikely to work given Lillie's lack of attachment to the hat, but Lusamine was pleasantly surprised to see a look of resentment replacing the one of amusement. _'Oh, we're being a good parent now, hm?'  
_  
Lusamine's inner voice had a point. She took the hat off and held it out for Lillie to take. She'd been petty for trying to get to Lillie, kicking herself inwardly. The voice in her head, despite being the voice of reason, mocked her for not being true to her word for five minutes. Lillie quickly closed the space between them and swiped the hat from Lusamine's hand.

Sun hadn't picked up on any of the tension. He was smiling blithely, and Lusamine patted him on the head, making him look even happier. He leaned into her touch and protested when it was taken away, Lusamine quickly shushing him.

"Now, like I said, I think we should all sit down for lunch. What would you two like?"

"I'm not bothered, mother," Lillie said. "I'm not hungry."

"Well, you can at least sit down with us, hm?" Lillie's face twitched. "And Sun, what do you want?"

"Um..." Sun stuttered. "I'd like, um, whatever you want."

Lusamine sighed. Even when he was trying to be good he could be difficult. She was trying hard to wrap her fingers around some kind of normalcy again, but Sun and Lillie together always found a way to bring some kind of wrongness back to her. No - wait - she couldn't blame them, they were victims of her ambition, not- good Arceus, it was layer upon layer of corruption.

"Look, kids, we don't have to-"

Lillie had twitched again on the word 'kids.' Lusamine knew why - because Sun wasn't her son, nor was he Lillie's brother, but that was what he believed now. The lie had to be maintained, more for Sun's safety than anything else. _'Don't lie,'_ her thoughts called her out. Of course her insistence to maintain the lie wasn't for Sun. It was for herself. She loved him too much to let him go. She wanted him forever.

"But mother, I want to," Sun piped up, making Lillie look even more irritable. She was making fists, Lusamine noticed.

"Honey, your sister, I don't think she wants to-"

Lillie had just considered the possibility of poisoning her mother with Nihilego venom, and how easy it'd be if they all sat at the same table. "Wait," Lillie interrupted. "Sure. Let's all sit down." Her change of mind again confused Lusamine further. She felt like she was being gamed somehow, that there was some angle she wasn't detecting, and it put her on edge. Lillie had become so aloof and distant that it was impossible to read her actions.

"Y... yes, Lillie. Let's sit together."

* * *

Lillie kept Nihilego in one hand, hidden under the black table surface. She didn't question why one of the chairs had vanished. Paying no mind to what had been brought up from the kitchens for their lunch, absentminded, Lillie thought about how exactly to poison her mother.

Lusamine's voice cut into those thoughts. "Lillie? Is something wrong?"

Lillie felt the shard curl around her fingers, slippery and sticky. "Oh, I'm fine, mother." As she spoke, the shard had sunk into her skin. Anger and fear clashed in her - she hadn't wanted Nihilego to inject her at such a critical time. She resisted flinching as she felt the venom plunged into her flesh. "I'm fine."

"Lillie, take your hat off, we're indoors," Lusamine asked her. Lillie hesitated. She had been relying on the hat to hide the level of infection in her eyes, and didn't know wether or not her mother would instantly catch on. "We've really got to get you some new clothes, don't you think?"

"No," Lillie replied, too hastily. Lusamine was taken aback. Lillie wanted to look like Nihilego now, to prove to it that she was its most capable protector. The most dedicated.

"But, you've always been complaining about... about..."

Sun crunched on toast loudly, and froze with it in his mouth, drawing the other two diners attention. "Butter," he managed with the slice between his teeth.

"Butter _'please',_ Sun," Lusamine reminded him.

"Oh," he said and it fell out of his mouth onto his plate. "No, I'm sorry, I meant that it needed butter, I'm sorry I was rude." He avoided her eyes, ashamed.

"It's okay, honey. And Lillie, I say that tomorrow we go to the Hau'oli city shopping centre and -"

"Mother, when's the last time you actually bought something from... a shop?" Lillie asked. The question was meant to be barbed. "Aren't you 'above' those now?" Lillie was going to go on the offensive for every little thing. She would rip Lusamine's every word apart and feast on her spluttering attempts to make any kind of reparations, make it clear there was no way to go back to the good times-

 _The good times.  
_  
Her father, Gladion, her mother before everything went wrong. She was only little and had very few memories of him, she hadn't seen a picture of her father in years, what would he think of all thi-

"Lillie, please-"

"You just want to go on a little shopping trip, just want to try and make me happy, just want to-" The memories had interested Nihilego and it had converted sadness into anger rapidly enough to stop Lillie from thinking of 'the good times' and instead consider 'the better times' if she'd only obey the Ultra Beast and protect it, feed it-

"Lillie," Lusamine tried to cut her off, looking distraught. Good. Lillie was satisfied to see she was actually pulling down some of Lusamine's walls and reaching into her mind far enough to actually cause some emotional distress like her mother had caused her.

"You just want to make everything great for you. Just want to put the past behind you," Sun, sitting between them, was making himself busy applying the third layer of butter to his toast. His head was bowed, trying to avoid the conflict between his mother and his sister. "Just want to ignore what you've done-"

"-Lillie-"

"-and go on, pretending you're oh-so-"

"-Lillie, that's enough."

Lillie glared at Lusamine, and the two engaged in a staring contest that Lillie deliberately lost, jerking her head toward Sun, then shaking her head and tutting. The message of the action was clear. _'You can make everyone else believe it. Not me.'  
_  
Nihilego slipped out of Lillie's hand and onto her lap. It lay still there, as if it knew that it could be spotted if it fell from there. Lusamine took a sip of her tea and Lillie avoided smirking. _'That's right. You can't run from us, mother. Me and Nihilego... we're going to destroy you.'_ Lillie and Nihilego knew the truth, and in due time Lusamine would pay the price. She lowered her hand to stroke the shard as everyone resumed eating. Once her mother was gone...

Lillie pried herself away from Nihilego for a moment to look at Sun and felt herself soften. _'You only need me,'_ it told her. _'You don't need-'_ she blocked out the voice and felt nausea crash inside her like car into brick. Glass thoughts smashing and metal defences buckling. Why was she doing this? She wanted to scream a warning at her mother, but the resentment she harboured held her back.

Lusamine was watching her with worry. Lillie didn't know if her mother actually cared or if she was pretending. It was impossible to tell anymore. It was time for Lillie to give up, the same way that Lusamine had given up on her and Gladion, taking Sun for herself instead. Now Lillie began to turn on Sun. He was being given all her mother's adoration and attention. For no reason besides having been chosen by her for an experiment. He should belong to Lillie, for her to look after and hang onto and cling to him.

The opportunity was taken. Nihilego could give it back. But what made Sun so damn special? Why did she even need to help him? He didn't care. Why should she? Lillie was burning up inside again, her hands shaking, Nihilego beginning to pry her mind open. She should only care about Nihilego because it gave her this feeling of absolute power, enough to overthrow her mother and rescue Sun from her clutches. But even Sun was mattering less and less, and her mother was hardly a concern with this kind of strength in her blood. As long as she knew this power forever she and Nihilego would love one another.

She stroked it and it kissed her with sticky black venom which she had to rub off on her dress. _'I need you, Lillie.'  
_  
"I know."

"What?" Lusamine asked and Lillie scowled. She'd said that out loud.

"Nothing."

"It sounded like something, Lillie," Lusamine warned, her voice sharp. Lillie didn't say anything. She was used to dealing with her mother's abuse, how she would turn a conversation against her, how she'd pry all the resistance from Lillie's being and make her conform to her silent orders. Right now, Lusamine just wanted Lillie to admit what she'd said. "...Nevermind."

Or... or she didn't. She'd just... dropped the subject. That wasn't like her.

Arceus, everything was so confused. She recalled being with Gladion on Melemele before finding out Sun was still alive... if he even was. She was beginning to think that Sun was gone for good. He might be sat beside her, but it wasn't worth it to even think about what he was. It might not even be worth it to save him.

While she'd been sat beside Gladion, with no hope in the world, she'd promised herself she'd never become like Lusamine, would never stoop to her level. Now she had Nihilego and all the hope in the world, and could do whatever she wanted to get her own back. But still, there was that voice bobbing in the nauseous, nebulous mess of her head, telling her that trying to poison her mother with the venom to drive her insane again was a bad, bad idea. That she was becoming like her mother.

Lillie could wait if she had to. So long as the opportunity presented itself, justice would be served. Lusamine would be left with nothing. Lillie would wring her of all she held close and then vanish into the horizon to create a new life. Sun, Nihilego, Lillie. Sun, Nihilego, Lillie.

The rest of the 'family' lunch passed without incident. There was very little talk between the three, Lusamine desperate to start some sort of dialogue so she could try to gauge how much work still needed to be done with Lillie to make her daughter trust her again. Lillie hadn't bit once, ignoring or deflecting her mother's conversation attempts. Meanwhile, Sun had been focused on eating.

Lusamine's attempt to bring the family together had fallen flat. Sun and Lillie remained at the table long after they were finished, waiting to be dismissed. Lusamine opened and shut her mouth periodically, thinking of something to say. "Um... you two... you can go now."

Lillie instantly pushed her chair away from the table, a loud scrape ringing through her head, the sensation enhanced to a painful degree. Keeping the shard concealed, she didn't push the chair back in, Lusamine sighing and doing it herself after Lillie left. "Sun, honey, you can go..." his eyes shifted to meet hers. He didn't need to speak. "Sun, it's okay. I'll be back later."

He looked down at the table. It was so clean he could see his own reflection and was repulsed by it. Sun wouldn't say it to her face, but he wanted to look just like his mother. This new form was putting bad thoughts into his head - he had wanted to wear something different. The colours he wore should be the colours she wore. He should be her doll, she could do whatever she wanted with him. Sun felt her touch his shoulder, the contact startling him.

"Sun?"

"Y-yes, mother?" Was she going to ask him to do something special for her? He'd like that. It made him feel useful, like that was what he was here for. Sun was staring up at her, mouth agape. Lusamine smiled, but something was off about it. "Mother?"

What had she done to him? Her forced smile faltered, guttered and died. There was an uncomfortable, ugly pause. "Mother," Lusamine repeated for no reason. Sun looked curious.

"Mother," he echoed her in turn. Fear that he had held for her, fear of her and Nihilego in symbiosis, was gone. There was a slithering though, a creeping and a crawling under his flesh when he looked at her. "What is it?"

"You can go now."

Sun didn't move. "When are you going back to work?"

Lusamine didn't want to lie. She had to do admin work for a few hours, but it was time she'd be in the house, so Sun could be with her. "Ten minutes. I'd better hurry," she lied to his face.

Sun stood up and gently placed his chair under the table, having seen Lusamine's reaction to Lillie's actions when she'd left. Lusamine ached with regret, and that ache grew into an indescribable pain when the boy she'd adopted hugged her, a smile on his peaceful face. "Okay, mother. I love you."

"I... I love you too, Sun."

Without a care in the world he trudged away, Lusamine watching after him as he went back to his room. Tidying up the table as best as she could bother she decided it was time to make amends.

* * *

Lusamine put on the old dress.

It was almost like she could feel the two halves - the black hunger, the oil slick of consumption and burning anger, and the white of control and obsession. Like the legends of Unova, the two sides could only function in balance. Without it they would always stand at war. Introducing her two primary personalities was like introducing the dragons of legend, snapping at each other and searching for weakness.

She took a deep breath and exhaled as she affixed the sapphire crystal to her chest, having found the gem where she'd left it - in a plain black box at the back of her wardrobe. The thing was probably worth four hundred thousand pokédollars, and had been amassing dust before she dug it out. The white and gold dress went back into the wardrobe, the green crystal replacing the blue in the small box.

"Moment of truth."

Lusamine turned to her mirror. There had been so many reflections, she thought. Showing Sun his new form, standing side by side with him, the looks he'd taken at himself... perhaps they were too vain, the two of them. She saw how she looked.

Everything finally clicked.

Lusamine smiled. This was the new page she had been waiting to turn over. She looked broken because of the dress, split in two, but that outward appearance gave both halves confidence - not arrogance or fear but plain confidence, nothing to become anxious or paranoid over.

The President of the Aether Foundation was back to being herself. Nihilego was gone from her house, and she just had to overcome the remnant effects of its venom from time to time.

Lillie would understand. And Sun...

Lusamine staggered. Sun. She had to set him free. She had to let him go. It was the right thing to do. It was the right thing.

Alola was always warm. The average heat was twenty nine point four degrees Celsius. That meant that the cold in her heart was morality, not a real chill, not real antifreeze being injected into her blood, dispersing, diluting, displacing, disturbing.

Visualising it in her mind's eye as her red blood cells crystallising and becoming scratchy and harsh, klinking against each other, sharp points of cold spears deflecting and damaging, Lusamine shivered. Her head though... it was clear. It was a miracle. At last the whispers were silent. At last there was no parasite sucking her soul away. Lusamine could think straight.

"I have to tell him."

There was no other voice to stop her or encourage her or snap at her for only just coming to this conclusion. Her bottom lip quivered. She saw it in her reflection. The absence of her other sides was chilling. There was nothing to make her ignore what she was. She wasn't in denial.

"I have to tell him." 

There was a knock on Sun's door.


	34. PAIN

There was a knock on Sun's door.

Sun opened it, and Lusamine was stood outside.

Sun was briefly awestruck by how she looked in the split black and white dress. Her hair hung like a gold shroud, cloaking her as it always had, now more accentuated from the contrast of colours and the lack of gold on her dress to shatter the image and pull it apart.

"M-mother..." Sun spluttered. Lusamine's breath was drawn in shaking gasps, stuttering, crackling. She couldn't tell him. It would destroy him. It would hurt him. "I... I love..."

Her left hand moved and Sun fell silent, watching it as it traveled up through the air and rested atop his head. He went cross-eyed trying to see it all the way there. "Baby, we need to talk."

Sun nodded enthusiastically. They did need to. They really, really did, he had a lot to say, a lot that wasn't coming to his mind - but there was definitely a lot to say, he was sure of it. He thought of this as a chance to savor even more time with his mother, but still... "Don't you need to go soon, mommy?"

Lusamine considered. She'd lied to his face so that she didn't need to be around him and she was bending the truth so that she'd be able to do whatever she wanted without a thought as to how he felt. Individual strands of Sun's hair parted beneath her fingertips, soft and forgiving, much like Sun himself. Before she had knocked, Lusamine had whispered a prayer to Arceus, hoping, asking for her to have the strength to do this, to actually go through with it and make a change, a positive change. "...no. I can stay with you."

Sun's smile lit up the room. "Great!" Lusamine retracted her hand from his hair and she ran it across the side of his face, drawing another tense breath, while Sun's face remained set in his smile. He didn't understand, how could he?

"I need to... I need to..." She just couldn't look at him, staring at a point on the white tile ground just in front of her and just behind Sun. "Sit down."

At her order he crossed from the doorway to his bed and sat with his fingers locked together. Lusamine felt a lump swelling in her throat as he looked at her expectantly, eyes gleaming. She couldn't speak through it and she couldn't go near him: she had froze. She had to either overcome this inertia or back out as she always had in the past.

"Mother?"

Lusamine choked. She remained stuck in the doorway. It felt like it was consuming her, stretching into infinity, the forever after she admitted what she'd done. The nightmare echoed in her head. _'Guilty of torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment, cruelty to persons under sixteen, incest, abduction of a child, and abuse of a position of trust in a relationship.'_ Guilty. And Sun was still smiling.

 _'I can't do this. I can't.'  
_  
"Mother, is something wrong?"

Had Sun spoken? Was Sun speaking? Was she even there with him in the room on the _planet in the  
_

* * *

Cold sensation. Very cold, in fact. She wanted to know what it was. Lusamine opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings, the first thing that she saw being some weird blue thing that she couldn't recognise. It was placed against her forehead and she mumbled something incoherent in resistance, hearing a familiar voice responding to her.

"Are you feeling better?" There was someone holding her head, someone cradling her as they put that blue thing to her head. After a moment more she came to the conclusion that the blue thing was a cloth, and that whoever was holding her was putting cold water on her forehead. A droplet ran off her arched eyebrow and down her face. It fell to the ground with a silent splash. "Mother, are you okay?"

"Sun?" He moved into view of her, his face swimming above. Things seemed too bright. How funny that Sun should be too bright.

"Are you feeling okay?" He had such a look of concern, and she could feel his hand supporting her head, while the other worked with the cloth. The cold was like kisses, like little touches from soft ice that folded over her feverish skin, and she could feel Sun's gentle hand behind it. Where had he picked up his nursing ability? From his Pokémon journey?

"Sun... what happened?" The last she remembered she had been speaking to him... or about to speak to him. She heard a tap running and the cloth was taken away for a moment. The cold came back. "Oh," she gasped as Sun put it back on - without her command her arm moved and she took his wrist on reflex. "S-Sun..."

"Mother," he said and paused. Silence. "...you... you fainted, I think. I took you in here so that I could look after you..." As he spoke, Lusamine noticed that she could feel her own pulse in sharp jolts like electrocution, conducting it through the wet cloth. She let go of him, the ebbs of her strength drained away. He'd taken her to the bathroom, likely just so that he could do... whatever he was doing with the cloth. Thinking about it, this probably _wasn't_ what you did with a fainted person.

"Sun, honey, how long was I... was I gone?"

"It's only been ten minutes, mother."

Lusamine's sigh was the only sound in the room, and it curled into every corner. "Thank you, Sun." She sunk into the feeling of his careful nursing, allowing him to do as he willed. "Sun, I'm sorry."

"It's no problem, mother. It's not your fault." How could he still believe it? The evidence was compiled into heaving, trembling towers that he wasn't her son, and yet still he stubbornly believed it, the power of the indoctrination just that strong. Logic had no place in his thoughts regarding his relationship to her.

"No, Sun... I'm really sorry. I'm so, so..."

 _'Guilty of torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment...'  
_  
"Shh... it's fine, mother." Lusamine felt him move his hold on her and her head fell into the soft cuddle of a pillow. His movements were jittery and unclear as he took her shoulder and massaged it. He was so awkward, almost creepy in his lack of understanding of things such as personal space. It was a technique Lusamine used in the past as a form of abuse - forcing her way into other's spaces and using her authority and controlling nature to tear others down like wet, pasty wallpaper, feeling them disintegrate under her force, in her talons.

"Sun, baby," she mumbled through her dry lips. His attention was a laser, a point that scarred through her and cauterised at the same time, pain and relief and pain again. "Sun." He continued to rub the cloth over her forehead in methodical metronome ticks, click, click, click, which Lusamine found herself keeping time with in her head.

"Shh. I'll look after you," he promised. "I'll make you better."

"S-Sun..." she closed her eyes, drifting on the tides of wiping cold on her skull, letting herself out into the ocean of subconsciousness. She felt his shadow fall over her and smiled, knowing he was only hesitating to glance over her or to damp the cloth again.

Sun kissed her.

Her eyelids flew up. He had his own eyes closed and was indulging in the kiss so very deeply that it was disturbing: without noise, without motion, just with raw love, untamed and unhampered. His tongue was trying to find entry to her mouth and she denied it, turning her head away, breaking the kiss.

"M-mother?" Confusion was etched into his face.

"Sun," she said, trying to let him down easy. "I'm not... I don't want to do that now."

Sun was impossible to read. He seemed upset or angry, but not enough for it to be clearly shown. It was subtle things - the slight quiver in the robotic pattern of the cloth moving back and forth, the single twitch in his shoulder, the breath that was a little too sharp. He collected himself. Smiled. He nuzzled her now, back and forth in the crook of her neck.

Lusamine stared at the ceiling and the light dazzled her and left bloated rainbow shapes in her vision when she blinked. "Sun... thank you." Neither of her children would have ever done this for her if she'd collapsed right in front of them. And sure, Sun was only doing it because of what had been done to him, but surely these were genuine feelings as a result of that - his attachment was true attachment, it was merely forced on him.

He didn't reply, continuing to nuzzle her neck. Like a Pokémon worried for its master. A sting of barbed possessiveness punched into Lusamine and she physically felt the stab from it in her gut. _'I want him. Please, let me keep him.'_ While her inner conflict seemed to be at least temporarily quelled, she was still contradicting herself. The harpoon of doubt that had entered her started to retract with a whir, pulling her on her knees back toward that dark zone in her head. She resisted the tug, digging her palms into the metaphorical silt, clinging to her demand to reform.

"Mother, do you want me to help you up?" Sun's question tickled her ear. Lusamine involuntarily moaned from the tingle that passed down into her chest, and Sun gave a little _'hmm'_ of amusement in response to her outburst. Another padlocked safety cover was blown to pieces in Lusamine's mind. Sun made another noise as her arm clutched at his waist.

"I'll... I'm going to stay here for a while."

"I'll stay with you." He lay on the obsidian tiles beside her. She was struck by how bright his shirt looked against his skin, and wondered if he'd want to change style to match her 'new' dress.

"No, Sun, you don't have to..."

"I want to." His voice was muffled as he sidled over to her and pushed into her neck again. It was like his personal scratching post. Lusamine didn't mind - she adored the texture of his hair and the warmth of his body. Sun similarly fiddled with locks of her hair, playing with the individual sheets she styled it into. Watching it tangle over his wrists and arms with childlike 'oohs' and 'ahhs' as he manipulated it.

Time moved in inconsequential motions and murmurs.

"Sun, you..."

"Yes mother?"

"You want..."

"Want what?"

"...want something like my..."

"Your what, mother?"

"...my dress?" She pinched the fabric to indicate it to him.

"It looks beautiful."

"Do you want something like it?"

"A dress?"

Quiet laughter that didn't extend anywhere near as far as Lusamine's earlier sigh.

"No, something that looks like it..."

"So we can match?"

"Yes, Sun, yes."

"That would be nice."

"Y... yes, it would."

"Are we going to go to Hau'oli city?"

Lusamine thought. She couldn't take him with her if she did. Nobody'd believe he was her son. Worse still, he could be recognised, and taken away from her.

 _'Guilty of torture, kidnapping...'  
_  
"Maybe."

"We've never been there, right?"

"I've been there... you've been when you were... when you were little."

"What's it like?"

"It's... it's nice."

"I can't remember."

"I know."

She'd just gone and lied to him again, made it worse for when she had to let him down and tell him the truth, just dug that hole another metre deeper for herself, just piled another layer of dirt over herself. She couldn't tell him now. Later. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. She'd get him his new clothes... but where was the point if she was just going to knock him back down?

"How long are we going to lie here?"

"I don't know."

"Okay."

"Sun?"

"Yes, mother?"

"You're my perfect son."

"Thank you."

Then a blanket of silence. So quiet they could hear the waves against the Paradise outside, a rhythmic swish, curling away and back again in their ears. Lusamine put her hand against Sun's chest, feeling his heart rate, steady as the beat of Alola's sea, almost in time with the rise and fall until the pace increased shortly after she'd touched him.  
They were face to face, holding each other, their heads resting on the pillow Sun had brought with him.

"Can I get a blanket?"

"What for?"

"To bring it in here. You feel cold. When you fell over you were too hot. Now you're too cold."

"I'm... I'm fine, Sun."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, really."

"I'm going to go and get you a blanket. I need to make sure that you're okay." Sun shifted and sat up properly, making Lusamine feel the cold he'd described. His beautiful concern... he really... cared... it started to choke her up. He shouldn't care. But she'd made him, and she loved that care too much to let it go.

"Sun, baby, wait- I'll- help me up."

After feeling her whole world tilt in the action of standing, her feet having pushed the ground beneath her askew with her stagger, Lusamine was caught by Sun. She gripped the edge of the sink, remembering times in Kalos where she was forced to stand in stinking hot buses to get to college. The rigid, bumping feeling of movement was a parody of that experience, and the heat blasting up her head made it all the more accurate to the past.

Sun put her frail arm over his shoulders and helped her to the door. "You need to lie down, mother."

"No, Sun, I'm better. I... I have to be." Lusamine had been away from the Foundation for far too long - at this point it was probably becoming a joke. She should just retire and hand it over to Wicke, who had proved more than capable of managing the place: in fact, Lusamine had to wonder if she was better at it.

"Mother, please, don't force yourself to go to work." Sun was not a master manipulator. Lusamine could hear in his voice that he just wanted her to himself, and the spiders in her head told her to grant his unspoken wish. There was nothing wrong with it, no chance that she'd hurt him, she was certain of that. She'd got what she wanted. To be alone with Sun, Lillie too distant to reach and Gladion... Gladion gone. Of course the price wasn't worth it, but she'd gotten it.

"Sun... I... l..." an overwhelming relapse punched her in the stomach, and the pain shot up into her head, where her brain lit up with all manner of vulgar thoughts and prospects for her and Sun. A voice that she thought she'd overcome began to whisper again.

 _'I am not far. It is not too late.'  
_  
"I destroyed you."

"What?"

Lusamine realised Nihilego's reach toward her had caused her to be honest to Sun for a moment. "N-nothing, Sun... nothing."

"Mother," Sun said, and there was creeping fear in his voice at the idea of her being ill, "You have to rest. I'll look after you."

"Sun," she whispered. "You're a sweet child. You're a good, good boy, Sun. I wish... I wish I could..." her eyes felt heavy. Her strings were being pulled at again, now in time with a different song, one that was self-destructive. The latent venom had decided she was of no use.

"Wish what?" Sun had helped her down the corridor and they'd reached a staircase. "Be careful, mother, please."

Lusamine noticed a Joltik's web near the living room chandelier fixture. She guessed where the stairs were and missed, overbalancing and nearly collapsing forward down the staircase - she only didn't due to a quick tug backward from Sun. Unfettered, she replied. "I wish I could take it all back." What was she saying? She had to explain to him, not just tell him, not just beg his forgiveness, not just vaguely dance around the topic.

"Take what back? Mother, you're not making sense. Please, shh, let me-"

"I think that if I hadn't... if I hadn't hurt... hadn't hurt you... we might've been friends." Sun stiffened. Lusamine now carefully took the first step down with his help, her heels hardly aiding her shaky stance. Gold dust hung in the air under the rich light, sickly in strength and muddling the senses. She was thinking about what if she hadn't knocked Sun down and kidnapped him - if she'd actually battled him and he'd shown her that Nihilego really wasn't the ultimate power, turned her away from it all... maybe they'd still have similar conversations. Maybe he'd guide her all the way back to repairing her family.

"Mother, it was... it was the... the thing that made you hurt me. I know that. It was the thing that made me hurt Gladion."

Lusamine knew what the thing was.

"No, Sun... before that..."

"You never hurt me before that, mother. Please, don't talk, let me help you. Don't go to work. Please." His insistence was admirable, and he was in the right. She couldn't concentrate like this, colours swirling and daylight burning. Concentrating on his touch, on his steadiness against her - was this why he had won all his trials? She'd heard the stories that had been told across Alola, her obsession with him beginning after their encounter with Nihilego.

"Sun, I hurt you..."

"Mother, shh..."

Now was the time.

 _'NO IT'S NOT DON'T DON'T DON'T PLEASE LET ME KEEP HIM YOU HAVE TO LET ME KEEP HIM DON'T TELL HIM PLEASE, PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HIM HE CANNOT KNOW HE CAN'T HE CAN'T-'  
_  
"Sun... you're not my... you're not my... not my son."

He stopped moving.

"Don't be silly, mother."

"Sun, I'm sorry..." she hadn't expected it to work. Convincing him would be like scaling mount Lanakila in the midst of a merciless blizzard. Sun moved her further along until they'd reached the base of the stairs. Vertigo tossed Lusamine's vision into obscurity. "Sun, you're not..."

"Mother, please, hush. I'm going to look after you."

"Sun!" He had to understand, he had to know, he deserved the truth, the whole truth, and decide what to do with it, it was his decision, his alone... "Sun, you're not!"

"What do you mean?" Sun was trembling, speaking in a tone that was wrung dry of the calm and strength that it usually carried. "I am! We looked the same until this happened, we did! Are you forgetting? Can you remember?" He was hurrying her to the bed, to lie her down. Lusamine saw his eyes wide as Poké Balls, his lower lip shaking.

"Sun, I-"

"Mother, please, please!" Sun's voice was breaking. He shoved the door to her room open, battering his way through, too afraid for Lusamine's safety to move any slower. "Sit down, sit down, I'll go and get help-"

"No, Sun-" he couldn't be seen. The employees were generally turning a blind eye because of how mysterious and aloof she had made herself: they didn't know any better. "Sun, come here, quick-"

She blinked and he was there. The addition of 'quick', the urgency it had given her request, had completely halted Sun's pursuit of his previous objective and replaced it. His arms crossed over her back, standing straight and too warm with his concern. "Mother, you need help," truer words had never been spoken, "I need to tell someone!" At his words an imaginary gust of anemic wind crawled into the room. The face of the clock counting down Lusamine's remaining freedom was moving too fast toward whatever date it was that she'd be found out. The date when he'd be taken away, or would remember, or would just... turn on her. Justifiably so.

"No, Sun, no. Stay with me. Stay with me." She rocked him back and forth and heard him sniffle - he was crying. "Honey, it's okay. Your mother, she's fine, I promise you. She's fine. I've got you. I've got you." Their embrace was so practiced and rehearsed that it had become second nature, as instinctive to both as breathing, as seeing, as existing.

"Mother, I don't want you to be sick..."

"Baby, I'm okay. I am."

"You said-" he couldn't continue, heartbroken.

"I... baby, I didn't know what I was talking about. I didn't." Great job telling him the truth, the truth that he deserved to know. Lusamine hated herself as much as Sun loved her. He pushed against her, again reminding her of a tame Pokémon in how they would act around their Trainer. She was starting to think he was raised by the things. He was making noises that weren't his usual purrs, but soft admissions of worry and love, gentle and embalming sounds, little hums of consideration. "Baby, look at me."

Sun's noise increased in pitch as he obeyed her, rising off like a question, a _'hmm?'_ This Sun was twice the beauty of the one she had crafted. Eyes like pools of sparkling water, that drenched and cleansed her soul in their depths. Wet with half- formed tears, the illusion was only made stronger. With a series of nudges and indications, he sat in her lap, resting against her as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Sun, just stay with me. I need you. I don't need anything else."

He touched his collar as if for assurance. "Mother... just... let me get you some water." Lusamine could tell that he was worried, afraid of what could happen to her, scared of losing her like she was scared of losing him in the future... and something about that was reassuring.

"So long as you promise to come back quick." Lusamine wouldn't let him go for long. He was a danger to himself and others with this amount of worry he'd built up.

"I promise." He gave her a final, much stronger nuzzle, basically headbutting her chest in a clumsy display of love, and quickly turned to leave.

* * *

Lillie's fingers were trembling.

 _ **MY LOVE**_  
 _ **OVER**_  
 _ **FLOWS**_  
 _ **IN YOUR VEINS**_  
 _ **BLACK**_  
 _ **LIQ**_  
 _ **I AM**_  
 _ **HOLDING YOU**_  
 _ **HOS**_  
 _ **TAGE**_  
 _ **BLACK**_  
 _ **UID**_

She hadn't seen things as they were since standing up to leave the table. When Nihilego had injected her, it had

 _ **I CAN'T**_  
 _ **READ**_  
 _ **YOUR**_  
 _ **MOR**_  
 _ **AL**_  
 _ **BULL**_  
 _ **SHIT**_  
 _ **I AM**_  
 ** _A_**  
 _ **FLAT**_  
 _ **AWFUL**_  
 _ **ILLNESS**_

her, to the point where she couldn't even

 _ **YOU ARE**_  
 _ **ALL I AM**_  
 _ **ALL I EVER**_  
 _ **WILL BE**_  
 _ **I AM**_  
 _ **NO LIFE**_  
 _ **BUT YOU**_  
 _ **MIGHT**_  
 _ **WILL BE**_

but she could still

 ** _DON'T TRY TO FIGHT ME_**

She slammed the case shut around Nebby and it let out a pressurised hiss. There was no way for the Cosmog to escape now unless she hit the manual release. The machine would extract the energy to power the Ultra Wormhole shortly.

Nihilego had dug its injecting tip into the back of her hand too deep for her to extract it. It was introducing a direct flow of venom into her bloodstream and

 _ **MY POINTS**_  
 ** _PIERCE_**  
 _ **YOUR HEART**_  
 ** _FEARS_**  
 ** _I WILL_**  
 _ **YOUR GUIDE**_  
 _ **YOU'LL BE  
REAL ME**_

It was so close so very close so close cl os e... the venom was pumping more than her blood, there might have been more of it than her blood her blood blood blood _thirst_ kill kill kill

Find Nihilego save save save Sun _hilego_ go to it wake up save save save

There was a progress bar on an LED screen built into the case. It showed how long it'd take before she could meet it and reunite the shard with Nihilego and feel its embrace, thanking her for bringing it back together. She didn't even want Lusamine to see it again. It was hers.

"S-soon... soon..." Nebby's squeals fell on deaf ears. "Soon..."  
 _'Lillie, do you have anything else you want to do before you meet me?'_  
Lillie's thoughts briefly cleared up.  
"Sun."  
 _'I'll help you.'_ Of course Nihilego would help her. _'First you need to take.'_ Lillie knew what Nihilego meant.  
In a trance she

 _ **I KILL**_  
 _ **WHAT YOU  
WON'T  
YOU KILL  
SLICE  
**_  
and then she had a knife in her hand. From the table maybe. She'd been transported downstairs against her will to take it, to feel it in her hand and Lillie SCREAMED SHE BEGGED HERSELF TO PRY IT OUT OF HER SHE COULDN'T DO THIS GET IT OUT OF ME WHY WHY WHY

And Sun was now in front of her, having just left her mother's room.

"You... come with me."

Sun was still as midnight backstreets. "Lillie-"

"Shut up, and come with me." She was sweating. Her eyes felt too large, too much was visible to her, there was an endless droning tone like the one that had been steadily escalating earlier in the day, and the taste in her mouth was so very alien and delicious, whatever it was bubbling and rising in high tide.

She indicated him to go up the stairs. "Go. Go." Sun walked without haste, trying to think of a way to stop his sister from doing whatever this was. His speed was encouraged forcibly when he felt a silver caress on the tip of his spine, a triangle of tingling threat. "Sun. I said, go."

He moved faster. He wanted to shout to his mother but couldn't risk Lillie hurting him... or her. "Lillie..." he stopped at the summit of the steps. "What are you-"

"Move, Sun." The sharp lick crossed his back in the flat, no cuts - only threat. A buzz filled the space where Sun had felt it pass over him, one of crawling, creeping skin, his body feeling fear for him. Lillie meanwhile felt nothing but addiction to fulfillment, to sating herself and her most primal desires. Black imagery filled her skull, leaving her as a sort of half-person, less than herself and yet filled, overflowing, exploding with wild aggression. "Sun, I know that you don't understand. I know. You're not even you. You don't deserve love. You don't deserve what I'm going to do... but I'm doing it anyway."

"What is it?"

"Whatever I want." Lillie pushed him into her room. Sun immediately noticed beige scratches into the white walls, dug by nails, streaks of what may have been blood following. Lillie hadn't even known she was doing it at the time, and she didn't see the marks. Sun's eyes scanned downward, and he spotted the crate with Nebby inside.  
"Eh- what are you doing to Nebby?"

"Sun, don't speak."

"Lillie, what is that-"

"Sun." Her mumbling, numb voice was more threatening than a shout. She couldn't scream at him and risk her mother hearing. "If you talk, I will cut out your throat. If you try to let my mother know what's happening, by shouting, I will cut out your throat. If you try to stop me," she flipped the knife with a dexterity she was unaware she possessed, "Do you know what I'll do?"  
 **SUN NO STOP ME PLEASE STOP ME GET IT OUT OF ME I CAN'T HURT YOU I CAN'T DON'T LET ME PLEASE  
**  
"You'll cut my... my throat out." Sun spoke slowly. He'd never been intimidated, not by Guzma, not by Lusamine, by no number of Skull grunts was he ever intimidated. He didn't get scared easily.

"That's right." Lillie had no bravado. It was just a statement. He was right. Plain and simple. It's what she would do. "Sun, I've got one last thing for you."

"What's that?" In the fifty-watt light, Sun could see the whites of Lillie's eyes turning bloodshot. Even more disturbing, the whites of her eyes were turning a necrotic, dead yellow, the reach of her infection deeper than Lusamine's had ever been. She smiled.  
 **NO NO NO NO YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HIM DO IT TO THE OTHER ONE BUT NOT HIM PLEASE, PLEASE NOT HIM NOT THE REAL SUN NO DON'T MAKE ME DO IT**  
"Four five three, four eleven SE."

Sun flickered.

"Lillie..."

"Shhh. It's time."

The world turned its eyes away. Nothing was watching but Nihilego, and it wasn't even truly sentient. Voices? Manifested by the host. Nihilego's commands? Merely the deepest, darkest wants of the host. All it wanted was to draw the host to it, to consume, to devour all that was and all that was yet to be in a maelstrom of violence and tempest of rage.  
 **LET ME LEAVE DON'T LET IT END LIKE THIS  
**  
 _Don't let me lose my mind at all that's happened to me: it's all coming back to me. Don't let me forget either, I have to know.  
_  
 **LET ME LIVE AGAIN GIVE ME BACK  
**  
 _Get me out of here, I need to breathe.  
_  
 **GIVE ME ME BACK BEFORE I DO SOMETHING I CAN'T UNDO  
**  
Lillie was beginning to understand, even in her tortured, contorted and twisted consciousness. She understood. Lusamine had only been saying all she could force herself to.

 _'Lillie, what's done is done. I have already taken him. I have to... I have to help him. I'll make him better, then... then we can be a family again. We can. We... we have to.'_

Once Lillie had done this, it was done.

"What do you want me to do?" Sun asked her. Nebby squealed in the case, and Sun knew, he recognised it, he remembered. He'd stopped an invasion before - he could do it again.

"Shirt. Off. Now."

Sun stared at the husk he'd used to call his friend as she trembled and sweat in front of him, knife pointed at his heart. He took the white shirt that he now knew was given to him by a false mother, who had changed his identity and his face and his shape. He clung to that information, determined not to lose it again. This time, he wouldn't forget.

This time, he'd be himself. He just needed to get through this first. He pulled his shirt over his head and prepared for his friend, someone he trusted, someone he loved, to rape him at knifepoint.


	35. POISON

Lillie helped Sun remove his shirt before putting the tip of the knife to his heart, where it sung to them both - Sun's heartbeat through the knife, into Lillie's arm, the point making Sun more aware of his blood flowing, pulsating, uncontrollably.

Lillie's lurid arousal was becoming an unstoppable current of electricity that flowed in an unbreakable circuit. Nihilego was her battery  
 **GET IT OUT I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS TO YOU SUN RIP IT OUT OF ME**  
now, supplying her with a deep well of power and infinite buckets to sup from it: and she'd lost herself in the thirst, in the wailing, shrieking tornado of lust. It had barrelled into her personality, what she was and rent it apart, dragging elements away from each other and crashing them together so she could have moments of  
 **CLARITY SUN PLEASE OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND TELL HIM TO STOP YOU DROP THE KNIFE AND STOP NOW**  
in the midst of all of her bestial reversion.

"Now..." Sun began, and he didn't need to finish. He closed his eyes. "Lillie. It's me. I know that you-"

 **THEN STOP IT PLEASE I WONT LET IT HURT YOU SUN I SHOULD HAVE NEVER TRUSTED IT OH ARCEUS FORGIVE ME SUN FORGIVE ME GLADION**  
"Sun. I told you not to talk. I told you to stay quiet."

He decided his best course of action was to listen to her commands. He just had to make sure Aether Sun couldn't come back - but he felt like he was Aether Sun. He understood his situation and had a firm grasp of his memories. Nihilego's buzz, emitted psychically to its hosts from the shard embedded in Lillie, was creating a web that reconnected everything in his head. His name was Sun Elio. He was born in K- in Kanto. He was- he was not Lusamine's son. He wasn't. He knew that for certain. She'd tried to admit the truth to him when he'd been caring for her, he realised.

Lusamine had really, genuinely tried to change for him.

Sun had to deal with this first though, before he could face Lusamine. He gave in to Lillie's glassy stare, reminding him of dead fish he'd seen in the markets of Akala island - he was remembering. The smell came back too, the sensations. Pounding daylight and the hint of a headache. Emerging from the dark of Diglett Tunnel into Konikoni city, Hau close behind, being challenged to a battle by an off-duty police officer.

"What are you doing?" Lillie's question was punctuated by a bladed jab. It didn't split his flesh, but it left a point, a touch of panicked, scared skin. Sun had become distracted by his own memories, but he wouldn't let them go. He couldn't.

Sun pulled down his trousers excruciatingly slowly (trousers, not the capris he remembered wearing - these looked like Lusamine's leggings) giving Lillie all the more time to inwardly scream at herself to stop the madness right now. Nihilego pulsated malevolently within her skin, and her eyes were drawn to it. Sun followed her look.

The shard was sinking deeper and deeper into her. It couldn't do a standard fusion with her with only one shard - it had to rely on the single fragment of its biology to be potent enough to ruin the mind of the host. Half of the shard was submerged in her wrist. Sun met her eyes again. "It's making you do it, isn't it?"

Lillie surfaced for one moment. "Yes... Sun, I'm-" and she was drowned again, iron weights around her ankles sinking her back below. "Sun, move."

He finished stripping for her. Lillie looked him up and down, her eyes lingering.

"Sun... you'll do what I want, right?"  
 **I DIDN'T WANT IT TO BE LIKE THIS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER LET ME GO PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME HURT HIM I LOVE HIM**  
 _'You love me, Lillie. I love you.'_  
 **I HATE YOU WHAT YOU DID TO ME I'LL KILL YOU  
**  
"Yes, Lillie," Sun replied.

"Lie down."

"On the bed?"

"On the floor." Lillie was serious. Sun didn't need to ask. The ground under Sun was cold and uncomfortable as he obeyed. She kept the knife aimed at his stomach - Sun had no doubt in his mind that she would gut him if he protested or hesitated. Dig into his innards and forget all their ties of friendship as she drew them out, snapping and popping as the knife did its savage work with her unpractised hand to guide it.

Lillie stood over him, arms folded while keeping the knife visible. "Do you know how long I waited? All I suffered through?"

"I know, Lillie. She hurt us both." But Sun wanted Lusamine to come to his aid. He was self conscious about being seen naked in a way that he never was while he was Aether Sun, but could deal with it if someone would just _get him out of here.  
_  
"You know? You don't know anything. You don't know how much you meant to me before all this." Lillie was lowering herself onto him, still fully clothed. She was now split into thirds, Nihilego, herself, and the darker side of herself that Nihilego had brought out. The first enhanced the third while the second thrashed in a struggle to find some way to regain control over herself.

"Lillie, I know." The words earned him the dubious reward of the point of the knife poking into the space just below his chin.

"You don't know. You don't remember." Sun was gone so long that she was determined to believe he was dead. The Trainer ID hadn't worked for an extended period every other time they'd used it. She'd only said it to let the real Sun know this was happening to him before Aether Sun took over again. This time though, the stress had kept Sun in one piece. Even... even somehow put the two in balance.

"Lillie, please-" her face twitched and Sun fell silent. Lillie lay on top of him. Sun wasn't muscly but he was fit - he'd lost some of his weight during his time at the Paradise, but Lillie could still feel some of the strength in his body, even if it was more mental than physical.

Sun, below her, at last. This was how it was meant to be. This is how it was always going to be. From the moment they met on the bridge, she knew, one day they'd be doing this  
 **BUT NOT LIKE THIS**  
 _'Just like this-'_  
 **NOT LIKE THIS**  
they'd be laughing and she'd be smiling, he'd have beaten all the trials, maybe he'd be Kukui's Champion of Alola - there was no doubt in her mind that he could do it. He was the tempest, the lightning surging into her from the connection she had to Nihilego.

A nice house on the seaside-  
 **DON'T DO THIS TO ME PLEASE**  
 _'Your future is bright, Lillie...'_ Nihilego chortled in her mind.

"Who did this to us?"

"I told you not to talk, Sun." Lillie put the knife against his neck and pressed. Sun flinched as his skin- his real skin- split into a red smile. It was not at all deep. An inch in length and a millimetre in width. "If you speak again I'll hurt you more."

Sun just kept his eyes on her. This wasn't Aether Sun, who didn't understand these things and was consistently confused, and this wasn't Sun, who was stubborn and resistant and stone-faced. This was both. Aether Sun telling him he was scared. Sun telling him he should fight back.

 **LILLIE NO WHY STOP**  
She kissed him, and as she did, she opened her mouth and let the venom flow into his mouth, letting them share Nihilego's love and at the same time  
 **I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT YOU JUST WANT US BOTH YOU JUST WANT ME TO SPREAD THIS INFECTION I WON'T LET YOU NO NO I WON'T  
**  
Lillie broke away and threw up a stream of venom onto the ground, retching loudly, from her throat - the sound made Sun's neck resonate in sympathy. He leaned his head away and spat out the venom, hoping that Lillie didn't notice. It would be sure to anger her. Sun knew the taste well, and it was buttery, thick, tasty - but he would not lose himself.

"You- how dare you-" Lillie had noticed Sun spitting out the venom, ignoring that she had just vomited out a spigot of venom herself. Hypocrisy was one of many things Nihilego could influence, where it suited the parasite. She put the knife to him again, atop the steadily bleeding cut that was already there. It was running in thin, stringy drips. "Say hi, Sun, say... say hi!" She had raised her wrist to him, and Nihilego's extruding shard writhed, caressing his cheek.

 _'You were a good host... you did as I asked. You didn't resist. It felt good, didn't it, Sun. It felt good.'  
_  
Sun didn't respond to Nihilego's grooming, disgusted by the feeling of it rubbing up and down against him... and yet... he was similar to it, or had been while he was entirely Aether Sun. When he'd acted as Lusamine's loyal pet, purring and nuzzling. Remembering what he had done while believing the lie that had been implanted into him made him sick, but it also made him feel warm and fuzzy. He was only allowed to reflect on why briefly before Lillie thrust the palm of her hand into his chest painfully, Nihilego scratching but not injecting him.

"Now, Sun, be a good boy." She was echoing Lusamine. She stroked his chest, and Sun could feel the jitters in her movements. "Sun, I love you so much..."

She was flat against him, grinding awkwardly. Sun could feel she was deep in heat, and he himself was detached, refusing to become flustered or shaken. There was no tremble and no weight in his stomach. She wasn't watching him, eyes shut, moaning loudly.

The hand holding the knife was limp, by her side. Sun locked onto it. Extended a steady, calm arm to it, agonising over wether or not his sister- his friend- would notice him. If he could disarm her then he might be able to-

Nebby cried out again, and Sun saw the screen built into the case indicating a charge of seventy five percent. Lillie heard the cry too, and swung the knife, making Sun suck air between his teeth. She aimed the blade at the case. "SHUT UP! SHUT-" she fell silent, remembering her mother was downstairs. She wouldn't let Lusamine stop her, she'd earned this, Nihilego had given her this chance, a chance she was going to take all the way.

Alert to the fact that she may have just ruined her chance by shouting loudly enough for her mother to hear she took the knife to herself. Sun tried to stop her and saw she was cutting her dress off rather than committing suicide as he'd predicted. It tore apart under the serrated teeth, revealing more of the light skin that Sun had once shared, once been convinced was his, how could he as a logical human being ever thought that it was a natural thing for the white mush to peel off and tear apart-

Lillie removed the dress, now more like a weird jacket of sorts, the threads reaching for each other as the stronger connections popped apart. She was stripped down to her white bra and panties, and lay back atop him the moment the dress was discarded, keeping the knife in hand.

"Lillie, this isn't you. I'll still forgive you-" Sun knew how it was to be infected by Nihilego. The only reason he'd recovered was because he'd found something that had a stronger influence over him than Nihilego - Lusamine. Maybe he could do the same for Lillie. Maybe if he-

"Sun, this is me, it is, I'll show you how much of me it is," Lillie rambled. Nihilego crushed the voice that was denying these things, spitting in he face of Lillie's consciousness and knocking it back down.  
 _'This is mine now. You exist to spread me.'  
_  
She put her head against his chest, slavering black saliva, Sun pushed harder into the sharp, unyielding ground beneath them under her weight. Her hands pressed and pulled. She squeezed Sun's waist and dribbled onto his stomach after coating his chest. "Take it off, Sun. Take it off." Sun's eyes focused onto the shard in her wrist. Lillie noticed him staring and didn't think about it, but nodded. Nihilego had meant for him to take off her bra - Lillie wanted Sun to pry the infection free, snap it from her skin.

"Give it to me," Sun replied.

 _'I'll give it to you.'_  
Lillie's head was swarmed by locusts that surrounded her with buzzing pain. Intense. Ramping up, revving, accelerating, growing, pounding, swerving.  
 **YOU CANNOT**  
 **CA NN OT**  
 **KEEP**  
A  
 **THING**  
 **FROM  
** **ME  
** **NOT WHEN  
** **I AM  
** IN SI DE  
 **YOU**

 _'Lillie, I love you... do you love me?'_ Nihilego's assault crushed her will.

"Yes," Lillie grunted, the pain in her skull, centred on her forehead, "I do. I promise."

Sun knew it wasn't meant for him, and tried to snatch the knife. Lillie reversed her hold on the knife too fast for him to react and jabbed, digging into his wrist, cutting through, severing, drawing thick rivulets of blood.

Sun tried to hold his scream back. "Grk-"

"Keep it zipped, now," Lillie ordered jovially, smiling again where moments ago she had held a grimace.

Sun's arm shot up, adrenaline, denial and rage fuelling him.  
 _'You were a good host. I loved your lack of control. You never argued. You would only stop for_ _ **her.**_ _It was a shame we were parted by_ _ **her.**_ _She was a good host too. You were better... but together, you made mistakes. But I'll let you back. I love you all.'  
_  
Sun didn't listen to Nihilego's taunts. He was fighting with his sister his friend over the knife and she was screeching wearing next to nothing and he was naked and they were struggling back and forth, making enough noise enough noise for his mother his captor to hear them and come up the stairs and into the room to discover them and discover him, that he was no longer hers to call her own and that he was himself again Aether Sun gripped his head and begged to be back in control and for one millisecond Sun felt sorry for Aether Sun

And then he was Aether Sun but he was also Sun. He struggled all the harder because if Lillie won they could all be infected and he could hurt his mother again or she could hurt him again but Sun told him she wasn't his mother and for one millisecond Aether Sun believed him

And then he was Sun and -

Aether Sun-

Sun-

They were both Sun. Both were fighting Lillie, the immense pressure putting them together. Lillie stabbed downward and caught Sun's shoulder, dashing it. Lillie laughed.

"Sun, you can't..."  
 **SUN I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T WANT THIS I'M SORRY I LOVE YOU PLEASE**  
 _'He can't stop this and neither can you.'_

"...stop this." Sun fell back to the ground in his agony, blood seeping from his wrist and his shoulder in almost equal measure, thicker and thinner consistencies.  
There were heavy pounding drums on Lillie's cranium, splintering it, disintegrating bone. She unhooked her bra herself and dragged down her panties with a vicious, subhuman force. She spat on the ground to the left of Sun, and then beat the white tiles with balled fists.

"I'm gonna- I'm gonna fuck you, Sun. I'm gonna take you." Sun was staring with gritted teeth, one hand clutching his cut wrist. It wasn't fatal, but it was absolutely a wound. "Just like I always... always wanted. You and me. We can be together, Sun. We can stay with each other. Nihilego will protect us both." As she spoke, she lowered herself back onto Sun. "Sun, I'm going to let you feel it now-" she spoke like a dentist, but there was nothing at all clinical or clean about their situation. "I'm going to let Nihilego touch you again..." she held out her arm and the embedded shard writhed like an extension of her body, and Sun noticed the crystalline element of the Ultra Beast was changing. He couldn't tell if it was melding to Lillie's skin or if it was a trick of the light.

"Don't. Don't do it."

Lillie injected it into a point above his heart, and teetered, thrown off balance by the aggression of her own attack on Sun. Sun acted. While Lillie was set to topple, he took the knife, prying it from her cold hand, and ground it against the shard before it could introduce any venom to him. The shard screeched like the serrations of the knife Sun now held may sound if it was run up and down a chalkboard. Even under the knife the shard was alien - it was hardy, but also felt ready to burst like it was nothing more than a balloon of disgusting black pus.

Nihilego pulled out of him, the venom it had meant to force into him sprayed in a thick gush through the air as it wriggled in an approximation of panic at Sun's attack. Lillie was white-faced, horrified. She might've felt the pain that Nihilego had, so deep was her symbiosis with it. She swung the wrist with Nihilego embedded in it straight toward the knife, and Sun couldn't tell if it was so he could cut out the infection for her or to block her from harm while risking Nihilego. Either way, it was a sign of resistance. The glass of Nihilego chinked versus the silver blade, and Lillie had moved quickly enough to knock the knife out of Sun's hand. It span away across the floor.

"Now, Sun, you're going to-"

The case with Nebby inside gave off a threatening, audible pulsation that made the lights flicker. The pulse was bassy and deep, like microphone feedback underwater.  
"Fuck me, Sun. Fuck me."

Lillie took him and forced him to split her in half. One hand on his neck, ready to squeeze and crush if necessary. The other stroking herself up and down, basking in the emotional tidal wave that Nihilego let her ride into forever, into the darkness and the light on the _never_ side. With everything amplified to the point of distortion, to the point of-

 _ **FUCK-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-I-N-G  
**_  
"Oh my fucking- oh my- ARCEUS, SUN! OH ARCEUS, IT'S FUCKING HAPPENING! IT'S- I OWN YOU! I! ME! LILLIAN FUCKING ELSA-MINA, ME, ALL MINE!"

 **NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO  
**  
dial tone in the back of your head

Lillie's goals vanished from her mind. The ecstasy was still there, but something was wrong. There had been a voice, right? Something telling her not to do this. She stopped. She'd probably already came. Sun had probably came. She couldn't tell. Lillie fell onto her back, shivering. Sun stood, dragging his boxers back up and taking the knife. He pressed against a wall, pointing it at her.

"Lillie?"

"It's coming."

 _'I am.'  
_  
Space twisted, pushed like it was made of stretchy, malleable clay. The portal was opening. Lillie heaved and spat up a litre of venom, the stink of vomit, raw and repulsive, accentuated by the smell of ozone as the Ultra Wormhole crackled open. As it did they heard footsteps- Sun struggled to pull up his trousers while Lillie remained naked, prone, empty. Lusamine stormed in, investigating Lillie's vulgar yells, and shrieked in horror to see the seam in reality, Lillie lying naked underneath, blue light cast over her daughter's pink flesh and the black venom coating the floor in spatters like blood around her.

"Lillie, what's- what's going- Sun?!" Lusamine could hardly comprehend this was happening in her own house.

"Oh, Arceus," Sun managed at the sight of her. Aether Sun was clawing and dragging and snapping, and the two Suns earlier harmony was back in limbo. "She- she-"

Sun dropped the knife. A whistle from beyond was the gjallarhorn of it arriving. Crystalline pieces cascaded like water. Held in an incomprehensible form through an impossible force, they created a tendril that shot through the air with unpredictable speed. It dove and darted like a sentient whip, until it found the missing element.

Nihilego's tentacle fused itself to the shard embedded in Lillie's wrist and curled over her arm with grace. "Oh... oh fuck, no... NO!" Lillie's screamed as she was yanked toward the portal. Too late, she realised she'd been a puppet. She was food now. She'd get to feel that ecstatic embrace, and the forever after, alone, in hell.

"Lillie!" Both Lusamine and Sun had shouted simultaneously and rushed to grab her before she could vanish. Ultra Space's gravitational pull whipped their hair as they approached the portal, and the rumbling from outside signified the appearance of the storm that resulted from the atmospheric interference of the portal opening. Lusamine grabbed Lillie's waist and tried to pull her away from the portal.

"CLOSE IT, SUN, CLOSE IT-"

Sun ran toward the case with Nebby in it and raised his hand over the release. The tendril dragging Lillie away split in two and ensnared Sun's wrist alongside Lillie.

"Take the case-" Sun said and they were back in time. He was throwing the case to Lillie to prevent Lusamine from allowing Nihilego to pass through the portal. Now though he was throwing the case to Lusamine to prevent Nihilego from taking Lillie through the portal.

With his free hand he swung the black crate behind him then tossed it to Lusamine. "Close it now, close it, no-" Sun was pulled closer to the portal alongside Lillie. "Mother, CLOSE THE-" he stopped himself after realising he'd said 'mother' again. He wasn't her son. He wasn't.

Lusamine let go of Lillie for an instant to smash the button on the case and the portal began to collapse with a reassuring rapidity, Lusamine rushing to pull Sun and Lillie away from-

Two additional tendrils snatched Lillie's waist. "SUN, MOTHER, HELP ME-" Lillie disappeared into the blue light.

Lusamine was two steps away when the portal shut. The tentacle holding Sun was severed from the rest of Nihilego by the portal shutting over it, slicing it in half. The individual shards, at least twenty, fell to the floor with a clatter. They quivered and squirmed.

"Sun, we have to reopen-"

"We can't, it'll come through and take us-"

"Let me-" Lusamine cried, in hysteria.

Sun stole the case from her. "No. Don't open the portal."

"My daughter, she's- she's- Sun, we need to save your-" Lusamine seemed to realise that reopening the gate was futile, that they'd both be abducted alongside Lillie and picked clean for eternity. Lusamine turned, turned again, desperate. Sun just watched her. They had to do _something._ Lillie was gone. Lillie was gone. It was still. The storm outside had calmed as fast as it had brewed, and the Alolan sea was at peace again. The air smelled of electricity and sweat.

Sun sat down in the centre of the room, lifting a Nihilego shard in his fingers. It curled over his hand and tried to inject him - he smacked his hand against the floor and shattered it into pieces. "Lusamine..."

"Sun, do you-" she noticed how defeated he looked. He looked like... he looked like he knew. Like somehow in the ten minutes they'd been apart that he'd figured it out. Or he'd been infected again. Either did not bode well. "Sun? Honey... is something wrong?"

"I know. I know. I'm not your son. I remember it all."

Her world crumbled. Pillars split and cracked, and the platforms they raised caved in. Little chips of all she'd made cascaded as her mausoleum of excuses broke down like a house of cards, all blown aside, nothing but dust to ashes, ash to rust, ruins to fragments.

 _'You have to be honest.'  
_  
 _'You can't let him leave.'  
_  
 _'Try and trick him.'  
_  
 _'Keep him here.'  
_  
 _'Let him go.'  
_  
 _'Try to induce Stockholm syndrome.'  
_  
 _'Treat him right.'  
_  
 _'Beat him until he stays.'  
_  
 _'Tell him he's confused.'  
_  
 _'He's wrong. That's all there is to it.'  
_  
 _'TELL HIM THE TRUTH.'  
_  
 _'Hug him.'  
_  
 _'Kill him. You can't risk him telling a soul.'  
_  
 _'Sun deserves better than you.'  
_  
"Sun..." Lusamine began. "I'm so sorry."


	36. PARENT (part one) slash PROMISE

"Sun... what are you going to do... now that you... you know?" Sun started to stamp on the remaining shards left by Nihilego's insidious outreach while Lusamine did the same, driving her heel into the glassy snakes, spilling their black lifeblood. She made the motion extra violent, applying and using all of the fear and anger building at the concept of losing him now that he knew everything she'd done. She couldn't hurt him - Arceus, no, she couldn't stop him if he decided to leave or tell someone the truth - she had to convince him, wheedle him with promises of whatever he wanted, just to get him to stay. She would do anything for his forgiveness, to assure she didn't lose her adopted son. The shirt on the floor lay crumpled until Sun scooped it up and put it back on. Beside the shirt lay Nebby, exhausted, shivering - Sun crouched and wrapped Nebby in his arms, cradling it back and forth.

"I don't know." He was speaking down to Nebby, which used both its gaseous limbs to clutch at Sun's bleeding wrist, groaning.

"What happened?" Lusamine was keeping a respectable distance from Sun, trying to give him plenty of space to think and comprehend whatever had happened. She didn't want him to panic and run away, she had to cling to him now, make sure he stayed by her side. That meant playing it slowly until she could swoop in and make some sort of pact, anything, whatever it took.

"Lillie... she's been infected... she'd been infected. For a while. Probably." They'd stamped out each remaining shard except one. "Keep one," Sun said, sticking his hand out to prevent Lusamine from killing it.

Lusamine frowned. "Why?" Sun and herself should know above all else that even a single piece of Nihilego's biology could have extreme, depraved, horrifying consequences.

"Might need it." Sun bent over the last one - no larger than four inches long - and trapped it under the same glass Lillie once used to hold her pet Nihilego piece in place.

They watched it writhe with disgust, wondering just how they had become so enamored with the insidious and evil Ultra Beast.

"Sun," Lusamine interrupted, still trying to understand what had occurred under her roof in the last ten minutes. "I need you to talk to me for a moment. What exactly happened? Exactly?" Start off the conversation simply. Ask for information he'd want to divulge. Inwardly Lusamine was in a meltdown, desperate to make every correct move.

"I left your room to get you water and Lillie was outside with a knife. I followed her commands to here where she made me strip and raped me. In that time it became clear to me that she was infected." Sun's voice was flat. Lusamine was used to this, but the choice of his words and the lack of 'ums' and 'uhs' told her that something was a little different about him. How plainly he was speaking, especially given the content of his words and the no doubt traumatic experience of Nihilego nearly taking him too.

Lusamine briefly saw a flash of a gut wrenching vision where both Lillie and Sun had been taken away from her, and was only stirred back to reality by Sun's words. "She was going to take us both to Ultra Space, I think. She wasn't coherent."

"Oh... oh Arceus, Sun..." Lusamine recalled Sun's robotic inflection from time to time when he'd been working or explaining something. It was his coping mechanism. Maybe now that he knew the truth, and had seen Lillie be taken, he was stuck in this mode temporarily.

"Yeah." He spoke the single word with an unusually deep register. Lusamine again recognised something was off. He had almost never used the word 'yeah' around her. It was always the polite 'yes,' never 'yeah.' "She was infected. But you were smitten with me, and I was... I wanted to be with you." He finally looked straight at her, and the hurt on his face made Lusamine's heart sink.

"Neither of us were watching her... and she was acting strangely..." Lusamine's eyes glazed over as she replied. "Sun, this is my fault. I should've noticed something. I should've... done something. I could've done something." She gradually went to touch his shoulder and Sun pulled away. Her gaze found focus on him again. "Sun, don't be scared of me. I'm never, ever going to-"

"You already hurt me." Sun was scowling, but he looked like he was having difficulty maintaining it. Lusamine took a guess. He had remembered everything, but the procedure that had made him love her was still in full effect. "I won't let you come anywhere near me. I don't want you to touch me." His tone was still flat, impersonal, robotic.

"Sun," she offered, speaking softly, slowly, wanting to test her theory. If she could creep back into his brain, get a little leverage over it-

Sun picked up the knife quickly so that Lusamine could not stop him. He didn't point it, didn't threaten her, just held it, almost loosely. He was weak.

"I won't let you."

Lusamine showed no mind to the blade, given how Sun was holding it. There was no wariness of the weapon itself, only of what he might say or do if he wouldn't obey her anymore. "Sun, put it down." Her words were not an order. They were a calm request.

"You can't control me anymore. It's over."

"Sun," she said, disinterested in tone, remaining steady even though he'd just confirmed to her that he at least thought she couldn't enforce her will over him. "Put it down." She brushed her hair to the right nonchalantly and Sun mirrored her, the action learned from all his time emulating her. "See?" She held out her hand to him. "Things won't change, will they?"

Sun remained defiant. "I'll hurt you."

"Try." Lusamine challenged. "Go ahead and try." She collapsed into the void of her own self-hatred - there was still a way to use him and give him what he wanted at the same time. She moved to be within a pace or two of her adopted son. "Stab me. I deserve it. I'm a piece of shit." Her words were full of contempt and vitriol, pointed at herself. "Stab me, Sun." If he killed her now she wouldn't have to face the harsh reality that Lillie was gone, and maybe Sun would find peace after she had died.

"I will. I will." His eyes were wide, he was breathing in, out, in, out, the rise and fall of his chest rapid and stressed. His throat stuck fast.

"Do it. _Do it._ You can't. Come on, Sun. Every little thing I did to you. Every tiny little thing I did. When I- how about when I made you- how about what you did to me? Licking my face," she ran her fingers down her face, tapping her digits to simulate water. "Licking my neck?" She'd gotten even closer to him. Her words, while spoken like threats, were merely taunts. She went to grab him by the throat and hiss more vicious reminders into his face and barely held herself back.

Sun wasn't scared. He was not afraid. His mother captor wouldn't hurt him. He dropped the weapon. "You're right. I can't do it. I couldn't then, and I can't now."

Lusamine twitched. "I wanted you to kill me. If anyone has the right to do it, it's you." She turned away from him, ashamedly shaking her head, her hair shifting back and forth. With her face hidden from him, she let herself briefly express the pain of such self-hate, gritting her teeth and screwing her eyes shut.

"I know you wanted me to." He looked blank. "I'm not going to."

"Why not? Sun, you... you want this." She faced him again, her expression neutral once more.

"I wish I could. I can't. I'm not a murderer." He collapsed from the stress, sitting down. He pressed the palm of his hand into his eye painfully and sniffled, before meeting her eyes again with a despondent expression, plaintively sad. "I want to go _home_." The emotion was present in him now, the robotic facade broken. Lusamine wanted to remind him he had killed Gladion, so his statement was far from the truth, but his words stirred a distant memory.

 _'Let me go home. I don't want to be your experiment. I want to go home.'  
_  
That was months ago now. Lusamine lost all her misplaced anger and knelt in front of him, watching him cry desperately, emptying all his fear and sadness and hate and weakness and expressing his disgust of everything he had become and had been for her. "Sun, honey... there's... there's nothing for you to go back to." She wanted to hug him. She wanted to reassure him so much but there was no way he'd let her - it was her fault, her problem, her design-

Sun cried louder. "Why couldn't you- leave me- _alone?_ Why didn't you- you-" he screamed suddenly, burying his head into his knees. "Why did you do it to _me?_ You hurt us all! You-" he broke down further.

"S-Sun..." Lusamine stayed kneeling, shifting closer. "Sun, honey, you... you can stay with me. I'll look after you here. I promise, I swear to Arceus-"

 ** _"EVERY PROMISE!"_** Sun screamed, leaping to his feet and lecturing down to her with a pointed finger, jabbing, spitting, hissing like she might. "EVERY TIME YOU SAID THAT WORD, THAT-"

 _'I won't let them hurt you. Promise.'  
_  
"-STUPID-"

 _'I'll only be a minute. I promise.'  
_  
"-EVERY-"

 _'And I promise, Sun, I promise I'll never hurt you.'  
_  
"-SINGLE-"

 _'Mommy, you'll make me well again... right?'  
_  
 _'Yes, Sun. I will. I will. I promise.'  
_  
"-TIME, IT MEANT _NOTHING,_ IT DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU!"

"Sun, I'm- I can fix this, I can fix this, I _can_ -"

 _"YOU CAN'T FIX A THING!"_ He stomped his left foot angrily, Lusamine flinching, still kneeling in front of him. He swept his hair to the right angrily, folded his hands into fists and raised them in front of his face, making a _'guh'_ of anger before swiping his arms back down. The motion threw a few droplets of his blood onto her dress.

It was an exact replica of the motion Lusamine had made when she exploded at him after he scuppered her plans to cross the dimensions and find Nihilego. After she was done kicking and scything and beating him, she had done the same thing, raised her arms, swept them down and then reached down to seize him and throw him into the pit. They both considered the similarity in their actions at the same time. Sun exhaled a shaking breath, then accepted what he now was, how alike she had made them both, and breathed in.

 ** _"HOW COULD YOU BE SO AWFUL!?"_** Sun screamed.

Lusamine stared.

"I'm sorry."

"That doesn't mean a thing either." Sun dismissed quickly.

Lusamine tried to think of an argument, but finally folded, and decided to give him the choice at last. "You can go if you want. Or you can stay."

Sun breathed. "You're not going to stop me from leaving?" He didn't believe her - and why should he? Letting him go put her painstakingly crafted image at severe risk, as well as her career and her freedom. Everything she'd built. He could choose to end it.

"...No. You deserve the choice."

"What if I tell someone about what you did?"

The nightmare again. _'Mother, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told them. It was... it was him. He told me to. He's a bad boy, mother.'_ Lusamine blanched at his words.  
"If that is... what you choose to do, then I have no right to stop you," she muttered, unable to look him in the eyes. "But Sun, you know that wasn't all me. You know that Nihilego had-"

"But how far did it go?" Sun gestured, his voice cracking. "How- how- I won't let you pass off all you did onto it. It's evil. It made us both do... things. But- it wasn't all Nihilego, either, was it?"

"I don't know how much of it was me and how much was it," Lusamine admitted. "I'm done making excuses, Sun. If you're going to see me behind bars, then do it." As she spoke, she held out her wrists as if he was the officer who was going to slap the cuffs on her. "I'm done lying. I'm done with all of it."

The drip of Sun's blood punctuated the scene like an ellipsis. His wrist stung in the way that nettles did when run over a soft cloth - the pain stuck and twisted, catching on fibers, but it was short lived, in bursts. Snapping and twisting pains in his veins.

"I have to help Lillie." Sun blurted and went to move past her and out into the corridor, stepping through pools of venom and spots of sweat, past the patches of Lillie's vomit. Lusamine got up and rushed after him, stopping him in the doorway, taking his shoulders. Blood soaked gradually into her hand as she did, but Sun wasn't about to pass out - they needed to resolve the tension between them first before Sun would let her bandage him up.

"Let me help you." She could feel Sun's skin crawling under her touch and regretted choosing to touch him so soon after he'd remembered. "Honey, you're going to tear yourself apart if you do this alone."

"I get it," Sun said, the words spoken with a tone colder than Lusamine had ever heard from him. "You want me to just... forgive you because you're going to start acting like I really matter. Like you really care." She could hear her son in his voice too. It wasn't like the original Sun had replaced him, this was a combination of both, and her son was hurt at the idea that he was manufactured for her pleasure. That piece of herself, that love he had, was still in him but had now turned to resentment.

"Sun, honey, I always cared." She told the truth as she knew it. She _thought_ it was the truth. That made it the truth, right?

"Liar." The condemnation rang all the more because she was being told this by her son. "You cared after a point, only because you finally started to feel guilty. You cared because if this ever happened - if I ever remembered - you wanted me to shut up and be a good boy for you, because you realised that if you lost me it'd destroy you. You only ever thought of yourself."

"Sun, that's not true," Lusamine denied, even though his words cut to the bone and stuck embedded in the marrow. "I... at first it was all about me. I just... Sun, after a while I came around," she pleaded.

"You _'came around?'_ You mean you realised that you're a terrible, _terrible_ -"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SUN! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! YOU DON'T KNOW-" Lusamine trailed away, pointing at him aggressively, leaning toward him, eyes sharp as the knife that lay a metre to Sun's right. "Sun, you... I'm sorry." Her expression softened as the drip, drip, drip of blood running down from his wrist and onto the ground caught her attention again. "Let's... let's get that seen to."

"I can do it myself," Sun said, with a complete lack of conviction. He sounded like all he wanted was for her to be gone, and that was completely understandable of him - but he also sounded like he didn't want to say it. The hint of what could possibly be reluctance to completely reject Lusamine bolstered her confidence in being able to sway him to remain by her side.

"Sun, honey, let me-"

"Don't-" Sun choked, pointing at her accusingly, close to tears, "Don't try to speak to me like I'm your son! I don't want you to be _anywhere near_ me! I don't want you to-" he started to cry in earnest, hand against the door frame to support himself. "Y- you hurt my head... you made me- made me your _pet_ , your- I don't want anything to do with you! I don't want to ever see you again!"

Lusamine watched him, close to breaking down herself. "Sun... I'm so... I... Sun..." she stuttered. "Please don't leave me..." Lusamine held out a hand to him. "Please. I swear, I'll look after you. I'll- I'll give you everything you ever wanted if you just-"

 _"I don't want-"  
_  
"S- SUN- I'll do whatever it takes, just-"

"I'm not saying no to all the desperate, pathetic bribes, I'm saying no to _you!"_ Lusamine finally saw clear what he meant. "I want _nothing_ to _do_ with you! You took _everything_ away from me!" He took a trembling breath, now looking pale and afraid. "Please- don't come any clo-"

Lusamine lurched forward and grabbed him in a tight hug, Sun squirming and screaming as he struggled and twisted. "Shh, baby, shh, mommy's here, mommy's got you-"

 _"-_ _ **LET GO OF ME! NO! NO, LET**_ _-"  
_  
"-Sun, my sweet, calm down-" she was rambling into his ear in a breathy, soft voice, trying to exert her power over him again.

"- _I WON'T LET YOU_ -"

"-shh, shh, I've got you-"

"-Don't hurt me, I don't- let me go _home,_ please, _please_ -" She heard the begging, the horror in his voice and held him even tighter, forcing her will deeper into him to try and get past his barriers.

"-it's fine, you're safe, you're-"

Her closeness was beginning to warm up the routine that had been hard wired into him, the feeling of belonging in her arms starting to spread through him much to his dismay. "No, no, no- _let go,_ let me- let me... _let..._ mmm..."

"Sun, you're going to be so safe with me. I'll look after you. I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again. You belong with me."

"Let me... _let me..._ " His hand had grasped her forearm earlier, trying to pry her off him, but now in an instant his attempts to push her away became a tight grip, holding her close. He made a semi-growl, semi-moan at this happening, informing Lusamine that the gesture was almost certainly unintentional.

"Shh..." she breathed into his ear, feeling him melt away in her arms. He was losing. She was winning.

"Hgh- let... unh... let... don't... un- unnnh... don't... let... go..." He was hugging her back now.

Lusamine, knowing that she had hijacked Sun again, released him. She hadn't wanted to force her influence onto him, but it was the only way to make him calm down. She touched his face and he smiled at her. "Feeling better now?"

His smile didn't falter. "I still know."

There was no way to cover up for herself anymore. Doing what she'd just done had likely made him trust her even less, but right now he was weak, his defences infiltrated and disabled by the love he couldn't help but hold toward her.

"But you don't mind?"

"Not at all," Aether Sun replied, Sun struggling to stop the reprehensible words escaping his mouth, fighting to regain control. His memories were still there, he just had to get over all the gross love that pulsated like a cancer in his body. While he struggled, that love made him keep talking. "You did it because you love me. And I don't care, mother. I just want to be with you now."

Lusamine shook her head, now seeing that erasing this much of his will was hurting him in a different way. She didn't want him to hurt no matter what. She'd take a bullet for him at this point, would step in the way of anything threatening him, but the biggest threat to Sun was Lusamine herself. Sun pushed against her and purred yet again and Lusamine chose to briefly forget that this was torture to the real Sun and patted him on the head genially. "Sun, please... _please stay with me."  
_  
"Of course, mother." It wasn't both of the personalities coming to an agreement, it was Lusamine's presence empowering one over the other. "Always." Sun stayed close to her, refusing to back away or let go.

Lusamine sensed a strange aura from her son. "Is something wrong?"

"I won't let go. I won't let him- won't let him stop me again." Sun shivered and Lusamine touched his nose softly, as if saying goodbye. Sun sniffled, stunned as he had been the first time she had done it. In her heart she believed this may be the last time she spoke to her adopted, perfect son before Sun began to win the war over their vessel.

"Baby, he's right. I was wrong. I was-"

"-No, you- you have to be right," Sun cut her off, hugging her tighter, "You have to be right, you're always- always-" He backed up a little and took her waist in his hands, running them down to her hips, staring at her. "M- mother, he can't be... be right... I'm your... your perfect..."

"Oh, Sun..." she muttered, blinking and seeing the Sun she had made for an instant before her vision corrected. "Son, I'm... I'm - I was always wrong. I don't think I was ever right."

Sun twitched, shivered, and his hands fell off of her. "At least you can admit that." He glared at her, suppressing the ecstasy that came with seeing her, being so close, wrapped in her energy. "I have to stay."

"W- what?" He'd regained control of himself impossibly fast. That was that. She couldn't maintain a hold over him. His betrayal was inevitable.

"I'm going to save Lillie." Sun kept his eyes on the ceiling just past Lusamine's shoulder, avoiding viewing her directly. "She doesn't deserve to be that thing's toy."

"Please let me help you. She's my daughter. I won't let that monster have her."

Sun thought for a moment. "You can help. But when we get Lillie back, I'm leaving. And I never want to see either of you ever again."

Lusamine's eyes slid downward to the ground, and focused on the tips of her heels. "Okay."

* * *

The clock was ticking itself into Sun's conscience. Every second was another cluster of moments after which his sister his friend could be gone forever.

He didn't want Lillie to die. He'd been manipulated and driven to insanity by Nihilego, but in a twisted sense his love for Lusamine had saved him. It had been strong enough to overpower most of Nihilego's projected desire to feed himself to it, which Lillie had unintentionally done to herself. There might still be time to save her, though. Only if he could come up with something fast. He'd only been sat with the blank pages in front of him for four minutes and thirty two seconds, but it felt like four thousand, three hundred and twenty years, and his paradoxical concern over how much time he was wasting having concern over the time he'd wasted was mounting fast.

Sun sighed and planted his head into his hands, elbows on the desk. His concepts had reached the point of rescue easily, forgiving Nebby's death upon opening the portal - it was the point of exit that was the issue. He'd even developed a theory on how to triangulate Lillie's rough location, a hardback book on the study of Ultra Space sitting on his desk with one of the corners twisted where it had been thrown at something.

He'd yet to write it all down, and as he took a moment to collect and organize his thoughts he heard the door click. "Sun?"

"I told you, I don't want you to come in," Sun warned, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up while his love for Lusamine strained at the mental leash Sun had finally wrestled onto it. The physical collar Sun had once wore had been kicked under his bed to be forgotten, and he'd recognized the blue and white striped shirt as his, putting that on instead of the white shirt that faded to gold. Underneath the shirt on his shoulder lay a beige patch of skin, having been healed with restorative gel, another on his exposed wrist. It'd acclimate to his usual skin colour soon enough. "Please, I don't want to-"

"Okay, Sun, I'll stay outside." Even her voice made him quiver with either excitement or fear. "I just wanted to ask you if I can get you anything else." Lusamine stood just barely outside, the very points of her heels barely inside Sun's room, not quite true to her word, typical of her. Always pushing her luck.

Sun made a mumbling noise, distressed by her presence so close to him - he put down the pencil and began to rock back and forth on his chair, arms folded tight and held close to his chest, eyes focused on his knees. Lusamine recognized the awkward body language and what it meant.

"Um. N- no. No. I'm fine. I'm fine." His voice trembled in a way she was familiar with, but the context of where it was made it set off the guilt she fought to keep packaged and buried in her gut.

"Sorry, Sun." She made to leave, cursing herself. There was no way that Sun would ever want to stay with her after this, and nothing she did now would change that, if it didn't just make it worse.

"T-Tapu Cocoa," Sun said quickly, and he bowed his head, trying to hide from the request. "I remembered I really liked it."

Lusamine nodded, even though Sun was purposefully disregarding her. "Sure, Sun." She closed the door as she left.

Sun exhaled, the stress ceasing like a tap turned off. He mumbled a non sequitur, trying to make himself comfortable again. He'd taken the piece of Nihilego with him, keeping it trapped - and it was staring. _'Come and join her, Sun.'  
_  
"I know how to kill you," Sun threatened. He was bluffing... and then, after a short moment, he figured out a way. An obvious way. An easy way. "I know." He stood and chased after Lusamine. "Wait- wait-" he stopped the moment that he felt that low, humming buzz of electricity that came with her closeness. "The- the Type: Nulls, where are they now?"

"Down in the labs-"

Sun pointed downward. "How far did you follow the plans I made? Are they done, are they-" he was coming together with something that made this ridiculous plan actually possible now. "Are they ready?"

"I- I think-" Lusamine clicked with his plan. "Beast Killers. Sun- you-"

"We need them. Now." He marched closer, quelling his fear of her. "They're the only way to-"

Lusamine was nodding along. "And without the restraints..."

"Let me see them," Sun demanded.

"Yes, Sun." Lusamine outstretched her hand for him to take. She waited expectantly, and Sun's world felt like it hit a fifteen degree angle. Everything was sliding towards her. "Come on, let's go, quick."

Sun didn't know if she was aware of what she was doing to him as there was a rush to his head, the sensation he couldn't describe growing more powerful. He found a lump in his throat and swallowed it down, trying to tell her to stop. "I- we don't need to-"

"Don't need to what?" She moved her hand a little, inviting him to hold it by folding her fingers inward. "We need to hurry, Sun." The split black and white dress seemed to bleed out into the corridor, making the vertigo Sun was feeling grow and grow, and he slid toward her. There was no way to stop his descent as it hit sixty degrees, seventy, eighty... verticality rising and rising, nothing to cling to, descending into a vortex of monochrome.

Then he was holding her hand. "I don't-" he stuttered. She was pulling him along, and rushing down the stairs, step by step by step, _click click clicking,_ each one shaking Sun enough to set him back into his correct mindset. "W- Wait-"

"What is it?"

Sun snatched his hand back away from her, fast as a riptide shattering rock on the jagged Poni coast. "I don't want to-"

Lusamine's mouth fell open in shock. "Oh- oh, Sun, I'm sorry, I didn't-" she seemed honest to him, and that was enough for him to believe it had been unintentional.  
"Whatever," he muttered and resumed walking, digging his hands into his pockets and pushing his nails into his thighs to focus on the pain above all else, the misshapen semicircles that he was digging through the material visible in his mind's eye. It held him together.

"S- sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. Whatever." It hurt. It kept him pointed, focused. He glanced down at his legs, wearing the same black and white pattern as his mother his captor Lusamine. He thought of her walking behind him, and dug too hard into his legs, splitting the skin and making it bleed. "Let's hurry."

The long white path stretched ahead, and Alola's sun was relentlessly cheerful above. Since the storm that had been battering the Paradise upon Sun's transformation, the weather had been perfectly pleasant. It didn't care. It didn't know.

"What's down on the bottom floors?" Sun asked Lusamine, hoping his voice would be loud enough for her to hear without having to look over his shoulder at her. "Besides all your experiments and frozen-"

"They'll be let free," Lusamine called after him. "I'm done with it all, I told you-"

"Well, I'm glad I inspired you to turn over a new leaf," Sun whispered bitterly, ignoring the rest of the sentence that Lusamine was speaking. He raised his voice back to speaking level. "But what else is down there?"

"Labs... some ethical, some not." Lusamine thought about the task of dismantling the corrupt elements of the Foundation and put it off immediately. First Faba would have to go - and he knew the truth about Sun... she'd pay him off. Give him a good deal. The rest of the corrupt Foundation could follow, in their jumpsuits and face masks shaped to look like the Unova Defense Force's combat helmets. "I'll see to decommissioning them."

They reached the main complex and Sun paused. "What do we do?"

"What do you mean?" Lusamine had stopped just behind him, knowing that he didn't want to look at her.

"You're going to take me to the labs, right? And we'll... we'll be together... what about the people in there and the Foundation members, what if they- they see us, they, they-" A hand fell onto his shoulder, quieting his breathless rambling.

"Sun," Lusamine placated. "Don't worry about it. They're all very busy." Secretly she had always worried about Sun being recognised, ever since he had lost his resemblance to her more than ever. She'd kept him confined to the mansion since he'd reverted to try and reduce the chance of the facade being torn apart. She had no idea if anyone would try to stop her, and hoped blind luck would be on her side. "Hold my hand," she said to him, hoping to keep him calm, and to qualm her own unease.

"That won't help," Sun replied. "They're going to think-"

"-okay, okay, I'm sorry, it was just a suggestion." Lusamine could see the illogical nature of the action in retrospect. The relationship between them was terribly awkward and abstract, neither quite knowing what to make of the other. Mother, son, captor, victim, loved, hated, friend, enemy. "Just... Sun, if you need- if you want to go back, just tell me. I'll take you back-"

"Home?"

Silence. Waves lapping. Cries of sea Pokémon. Endless expanse of blue above. Burning Alolan sunlight. Lusamine's hand moved off his shoulder. "Once we have Lillie back, we'll talk about that."

"You said you'll let me go," Sun reminded her.

"We'll talk about it."

"You said-" Lusamine walked past him, into the Foundation building. Sun followed. "You said-"

"Sun, please, right now we need to focus on-"

"I'm not going to help if you won't let me leave."

"I told you we'll talk about it. When the time comes."

Sun dropped the subject, but remained uneasy. It had been too long. Everything had passed Lusamine in a blur of black venom and red blood, moment by moment indistinguishable from the next, collapsing into a nonsensical mess of violence and horror that she felt she was the sole witness of... even though the boy beside her had seen it all too, that he was a victim to it all. Lusamine wanted to reassure him and tell him that once they'd got Lillie back everything would be just fine. A desire to force him to hold her hand to show that she appreciated him caught light from the spark of the thought that he had been through everything too. Of course he had. He'd been through _worse._ She tortured herself, thinking _'woe is me,'_ and here he was with a far worse strain and in a significantly worse situation. He was still her prisoner. He was still her property.

As they stepped on the elevator down to the labs again, Sun stiffened, trying to look official. Lusamine had drawn enough attention simply crossing the lobby to make Sun apprehensive of all the eyes on them. He felt Lusamine tap his wrist in response to his formal stance and glanced at her - the love response programmed into him stunned him momentarily and made him forget where he was and what he was doing.

"Mother," he began, and his memory clicked again before he could continue. "Um- I-"

Lusamine had smiled at his slip of the tongue and it made him shiver with fear. "You don't need to stand so stiffly, Sun. Just relax." The elevator began its descent into the catacombs below the Foundation, and as it did both Sun and Lusamine considered Sun's current mental state.

They reached the same lab where Sun had first been introduced to the Type: Null specimens (for the second time, now he had remembered everything), Lab A3. Now the three specimens were no longer confined to the tubes of pink fluid, they were instead inside three Poké Balls, unmarked, plain, unsuspecting.

There were tables that had been set up in the lab with a scattering of technological and biological apparatus over the surface. Sun paced over to it while Lusamine hung back. "I'm... I'm starting to think I didn't do it right. It can break. The system."

"Sun, you did great. I'm sure it'll work for what we need it for."

"Hmm." He was afraid to release the Type: Nulls, now that they had been upgraded according to how he wanted them. His hand hovered over the table where the tools lay, floating above each item in turn: postponing the moment.

"Sun. Lillie needs us."

Sun nodded slowly and took the three Poké Balls, releasing the upgraded Nulls one by one. They had their restraint helmets removed, their cruel, proud visage on full display now - they looked lupine, strong, like Lucario, like Arcanine - they tossed silver manes and their voices no longer echoed into the heavy metal masks, now clear as day.

Their crests were larger and rotated calmly through dim colours as the new RKS system power-cycled through every programmed Type. Metallic snouts huffed and puffed with a hint of newfound bravado that Sun was happy to see. They wore a mass of lightweight cabling and armor to help regulate the RKS System energies as best as possible, and the three looked far more comfortable than they had before Sun had seen to upgrading their designs. It accentuated their silhouettes, serving to make them look even larger, the seven feet of muscle and steel encircled in glowing wires.

"H- hey there," Sun greeted the three of them. Two stood, heads tilted in confusion. Not a single specimen cared for Lusamine, bristling at her, but the boy... they vaguely recognized. He looked different now. Sun had lost his Aether form, meaning the one he had adopted and the additional clone no longer recalled him. However, Gladion's did.

The shirt. The skin. The eyes.

It was sizing him up, and Sun knew why. He'd always beaten Gladion in battle, and even when they had all three, Gladion's had been the coldest toward him. Sun knew the question its eyes asked him. "He's... he's gone, Null."

The look in its eyes was so earth-shattering to Sun that he gasped. Null folded on its forelegs and let out a low, crooning moan, a pained _'oooh'_ that Sun recognised as similar to the ones it had spoken with an over-sized iron mask on its face. It leaned forward and curled up, the other two pawing at it curiously.

Sun sat in front of it. "It'll be okay. I'm here." It huffed at him, raising a clawed foreleg to swipe him away like a fly. "I know you don't want me. You want Gladion. But he's gone. And we won't do anything that he wouldn't." Null huffed again, irritably. "You know Lillie?" It now registered its interest at Gladion's sister's name, eyeing him. Sun's Null at last recognised him through the change in skin tone and eye colour and made a noise like a whine, pacing to his side. "She's gone too, but we can still save her. Only you and the others can, but we need all three of you. It's what Gladion would want."

Gladion's Null remained passive. Lusamine remained quiet, watching Sun. He had a way with them.

"Gladion always... said to me, that you were his... silver ally. You were his closest partner. And me and Gladion were good friends." Sun noticed that Null had peeked up on the term 'silver ally.' He stroked its mane, silver like Gladion had named it for. "He... when he didn't call you Null, he called you that, right? Silvally. He told me, after I beat him on Ula'ula island. You preferred that. He gave you a real name. Not that..." Sun was thinking. He trailed off.

 _'When she called me 'son' I preferred that. She let me into her family. She...'_ the poisonous thoughts bubbled and popped in his head. _'I want to be with her,'_ he thought as one dangerously large bubble burst and coated part of his brain in nothing but bad ideas. Sun refused to think of those thoughts as anything but misplaced pity for the woman. He was fooling himself. _'I want to be a pet. I want to be a good boy-'_ he shook his head, blocking out the terrible, wrong thoughts. He couldn't stay with her, he had to run far away and never look back.

"Gladion might not be here anymore, but- you can still help him. He wanted to protect his family, his sister." He patted Null's muzzle softly, and it was now watching him intently. "What do you say, Silvally?"

Silvally stood, raising back to all fours and tossing its mane with a noble look about it. Lusamine smiled, glad that Sun both wasn't hurt and had found such success in communicating with the Beast Killers.

Sun's Silvally let out a cry of joy at Gladion's Silvally's newfound vigor. The third, which had belonged to both, paced to be beside the other two - and they all pounced on Sun.

Lusamine gasped and went to rush in, but stopped dead when she saw that they were merely licking him. "H-hey- knock it off," Sun laughed, trying to push one away at a time. "S-stop it, we've got serious work to do," he tried to sound serious himself and failed. "Come on, we have to-"

Lusamine decided she should step in. "Now now, the three of you-"

All three Silvally specimens encircled Sun protectively, glaring at Lusamine. Gladion's growled, the sound metallic and echoing. Sun got up from among them. "Hey, it's okay, she's friendly, she's nice-" Sun realised he was lying to himself subconsciously.

Gladion's Silvally snapped at the air, gnashing its fangs as if to say that Sun was wrong. Its mane, plume and the wires on its outer shell began to glow red as it charged up Fire-type energy. "S-sorry-" Lusamine said, backing away after seeing the change. Sun hugged Silvally's neck and tried to guide it back but it snapped at the air again, now vicious.

"Wait- it wasn't her fault," Sun told it, guessing why it was so agitated. The Silvally hesitated and made a noise at Sun that sounded like a question. "It was my fault," Sun admitted to it. Silvally nudged him, as if rebuffing him, telling him it couldn't have possibly been him. "I'm serious. I'm- I'm sorry, Silvally." It refused to believe him, pushing him about almost lovingly with its head. It could recognise that Sun had shared a bond - however small and antagonistic - with Gladion. "But we need to save Lillie now. Can you-" Sun looked around at the other Silvally present, "-can you all do that for us? And for him?"

The three gave a synthetic howl of pride. Sun smiled.

* * *

Sun's room was full of activity. The three Silvally slept in a corner, giving short huffs through their nostril exhausts as they breathed out. Nebby lay on Sun's desk, still shivering from the power drain. Sun would occasionally pet it to ensure it was well, producing little wisps of stardust. Nihilego stared at Sun without seeing from under its glass prison. He could almost feel the malevolent hatred radiating from the sluglike abomination.

Sun himself dashed back and forth, proving things, calculating, recalculating, estimating and improvising. And in the corner of the room, watching him work, was Lusamine. She didn't know how he knew all of this. He was doing all of this for her and her family, after everything she'd done.

"Sun... do you want..."

"I've already got more Tapu Cocoa. I'm glad I remembered I liked it. I really do. It's my favourite." He was rambling to avoid looking at her, keeping his eyes focused on the drawings. On the way back from the labs he'd remembered that he wanted it, and had stood by one of the Paradise's hot drinks machines waiting for Lusamine, who didn't have her purse at the time and had to go to the mansion to fetch it. He had bought five cups of Tapu Cocoa despite her protests and had moved back and forth between the machine and the mansion several times, each time Lusamine thinking that someone would call security on the kid who kept buying cups of Tapu Cocoa in triplicate before heading off to the mansion again, which was most certainly not open to the public. It was his innocence, his childishness that she loved, like a kid with sweets.

"Do you want a... a hug?" Lusamine had been trying to muster the courage to be kind to him out of the... relative goodness of her own heart since they had returned.  
Sun now faced her with an almost comically confused expression. He was trying to figure out her motive. When it wasn't revealed to him at a glance, he said, "Why?"

Lusamine didn't know how to answer. She had only asked because of how much stress he was putting himself through. Empty paper cups of Tapu Cocoa surrounded the drawings and notes he'd made, and his hands shook as he held them above a new, blank sheet. She dragged her chair closer. "Because I want to make you feel better."

"You kidnapped me and..." Sun stopped. He'd already made his point. He'd also unintentionally invoked the words the judge in the nightmare had spoken. He drew a straight line on the paper, and flipped it over, dissatisfied.

Lusamine stood and moved her chair closer. "Sun, baby, come to mommy."

The stress that kept Sun on edge broke, as did his resistance to her. He leaned his head against her and she put her arm around him, holding him tight. "It'll be okay. We'll find her." Lusamine found it strange she was trying to cheer him up over the predicament, and concluded it was because he was the one carrying the burden of illustrating and orchestrating his plan. He was the one that was being relied upon.

"Mommy," Sun mumbled. "I know it's not you... _I know..."_ He wasn't going to forget. This was a momentary weakness brought on by Aether Sun, nothing more. He didn't want this. He didn't. He... Arceus, her body fit his perfectly... they'd practiced this so often... but he didn't want this. "Stop it... _stop it!"  
_  
"Baby, just... just calm down." She kept her hold on him tight. Sun tried to shake free and failed. The earlier takeover of his mind had informed her that it was impossible for him to resist this - once he was in her arms he would inevitably leave them belonging to her once again, provided that the length of the cuddle was sufficient. It was mathematical, clinical. "Baby, let your mother calm you down."

"You're not my-" Sun sobbed. "You can't- you _can't..."  
_  
"Sun... I'll let you go once you've calmed down." Lusamine was using her power over Sun to relax him. Only for good, or... again, _relative_ good. "Mommy's got you." Sun cried into the crook of her arm as Lusamine rocked him back and forth. "I'm sorry I did this to you, Sun. You... you understand, though, yes?"

"Understand what?" Sun sniffled. "Oh... _ug-_ " he clutched at her, afraid she'd let go, and made a pained noise, of denial, of self-hatred. He knew what had happened but the addiction, the attraction, was still inside him. "Mommy, I love you..." His tone and his expression was more in line with a tortured, emancipated war veteran begging for death than a child admitting their affection for their mother. "I- ugh- I love you..."

"Sun, you don't have to hold it back," Lusamine encouraged. "I'll understand." She felt terrible trying to once again manipulate him, wanted there to be another way, but she had to do it to keep herself safe. If she could get through this now, and use him to get Lillie back, maybe they'd part ways amicably.

Maybe Tepigs could fly.

"Mother..." Sun choked. "You did this to me..."

"I did. But Sun, it's in the past. We can't help it now." She scratched his head in a greatly familiar manner, Sun moaning with denial as her hand moved with gradual poise to cup his cheek. "Who's my perfect boy?" She herself knew she was pushing it too far. She wanted to relive it all for one moment, having that perfect son, having what she wanted, something that just loved her and nothing else, and couldn't stop herself from trying to get it back even if only for a handful of seconds.

Sun trembled. "You're trying to- trying to control- just admit that- admit you don't want me to leave just because you're scared of what might happen if I tell everyone. Admit that you only care because I could... I could destroy your whole life." Sun was stopped as Lusamine embraced him again.

"Honey, I care about you. I do. _And you know it."_ Sun couldn't call her a liar. She could've had him killed when he was infected, but hadn't. And what was worse... "I know you care, too." Only hours prior he'd been nursing her on the bathroom floor - sure it was as wholly Aether Sun, but parts of that gentle, caring, genuine love were still wedged into his personality and proving difficult to shake loose.

"Mommy..." Sun whined. "S- say it again..." He was blushing horribly and every part of him was begging himself to not give in to the love, the love that grew and grew and grew and grew...

"Who's my perfect little boy?" Lusamine asked him.

Sun struggled. He tried, tried so hard to stop it.

"Me."

"Do you love me?" Lusamine threw away all pretence. She had to know if she could keep him or not.

Sun made another strained noise. "Mommy, I- I-" he gagged on the words that he was trying to speak, "I love you." He took her wrist, as she was still caressing his face, and moaned.

"Do you still want to call me that?"

Sun finally was able to meet her eyes again. He was broken, horrified, disappointed in his inability to resist his mental affliction. "Yes."

"Oh, honey, by all means..." She'd won. She could do it. He was not going to escape her, not going to slip through her fingers, and while there was a ton of guilt there was two tonnes of relief and three tonnes of anticipation.

"M-mommy," Sun whimpered and fell into her arms. "Your perfect son loves you so much..." he felt the soothing familiarity of her shape and sighed in blissful contentment. There was a lightness in both his stomach and his head - the former unsettling and the latter heavenly, and both were gradually extending into every inch of his being. "C-can I -" he began and stuttered out into nothingness. Lusamine patted him on the head, comforting him as best she could.

"Now listen, Sun... you have to stay here with me when this is over. You have to stay." As she spoke she softly caressed his face with the back of her hand, exhaling slowly and indulging totally in the moment.

"I have to stay," he repeated, his voice blank. _"I have to stay."  
_  
"That's right. That's right." She stroked him again.

"Mmm," Sun purred. "I want to stay."

"That's... that's good," she encouraged quietly. "That's very good."

"Hmm..." Sun hummed.

Lusamine closed her eyes and began to cry. "Your mother's got you. She's got you." Sun was smiling as he held her, like Lillie or Gladion might have when they were younger, leaning across his chair and into her shoulder. Sobs were muted, smothered by her desire to not upset him in turn. Something deep and rooted around her soul was pushing agony into her nitrogen blood and through her tempestuous thoughts, telling her that Lillie was likely already dead. That she'd got what she wanted. Lillie gone. Gladion gone.

When she'd created Sun she'd wanted a child who would love her back, and the lack of inhibitions had allowed her to push forward with the plan. She'd picked Sun maybe because she was looking for vengeance on her biological children, maybe because she was impressed with his strength, maybe because she had felt something toward him before even... damn it, she wasn't a maniac like that, she wasn't that-

She'd fucked him.

The rope on her neck tightened painfully and she choked. Sun registered the noise and glanced up, watching her silently crying. "What's wrong? We'll find Lillie. And I- I want to st- I- I-" Sun's eyes narrowed, and he tried to push away from her, growling at her tight hold before exclaiming his woes to her. "Stop taking control of me like that. I don't like it."

Lusamine broke down, wailing loudly and making Sun flinch. The Silvally trio woke up simultaneously and barked at Lusamine, reading her as a threat, and she hastened to relax them. "Gn- no- no- wait-"

"Shhh, shh, it's okay," Sun placated the three in her place. "Let me go." Lusamine similarly obeyed him.

"Sun- Sun- you have to understand, I'm not right, I'm a mess-"

"I know you are. But unfortunately," Sun scowled, "for some reason I still want to help you. Help you get Lillie back. Help you get better so this never happens to anyone else."

"Sun, this will never happen to anyone else-"

"Your word means nothing." Sun's tone was flat as paper, blunt as brick and just as coarse. He cleared his throat awkwardly and gestured. "Right, I think I know how to get to Lillie."

"Sun... thank you."

"You're welcome." The Silvally had paced across the room to Sun and he stroked their manes in turn, the specimens forming a circular queue where they rotated around beside Sun's seat to all be fussed over one after another. They all got a scratch under the chin or a quick ruffle of the mane and rotated out for the next. "I- I'm only good at- at battling," Sun explained quickly. "About getting there, I'm just using what I found in the book." Sun pointed it out, six empty cups of Tapu Cocoa on top of it, and Lusamine recognised it as the same book she had tossed at Faba when the machine to change Sun was under construction.

"And... what does it say?"

Sun frowned. "I can't understand it."

"That's... rare." Lusamine sighed.

"But I saw-" he pushed aside scraps and revealed a page torn from the book.

"That was mine-" she protested, seeing the torn edge. Sun blinked at her. "It's fine though," she added hastily, but damaging books had always annoyed her.  
"Anyway, on this page there's a diagram," he pointed at it. "Think about it like this. You stick a-"

"Yes, yes, I can see the diagram," Lusamine interrupted. Sun blinked at her again. "But, please, continue." He lifted up his pencil and folded a piece of paper in half before punching through both halves with a unnecessarily violent stab. Lusamine glanced at him and Sun exhaled gradually and licked his lips. She tried to surreptitiously rub her eyes to check she wasn't seeing things and indeed saw sweat clinging to his forehead. He was under this much stress to hold onto himself with her so near.

"So if one half is our dimension, the other half is Ultra Space. If we create a new portal in Lillie's room, or anywhere near here, it'll connect to roughly the same place as where it pulled her through." Sun paused and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, trying to mask the motion as him swiping his hair to the right. "I guess it'd explain why only Nihilego ever appeared near here. It can't have been just 'cause you wanted it to."

"Sun, I can go if you want me to."

"Huh?"

"I can see the... the pain you're going through. Putting yourself through for me. Sun, I never meant for this to happen. I never-"

Sun was staring. "The sad part is... I believe you."

"You can leave now. I'll go after Lillie, I can-"

"I don't trust anyone else to do it."

"I'm her mother," Lusamine retorted, but she knew it'd be easy for Sun to tell her she wasn't a particularly good one. He didn't pick that angle.

"And I thought you were mine." There was a hint of bitterness, of rejection. A painful reminder to the both of them that things might be different if he had never remembered, and a sense of longing to return to that delusion. Lusamine didn't think that she was deceiving herself, hearing that in his voice, but couldn't be sure.

They listened to the ocean outside. It had been the only constant in the ordeal, the expanse of turquoise, witness to it all, silent spectator, isolating them from the prying eyes of the outside world.

"I- I want to make it right, Sun. I want to look after you. Both." Lusamine placed her hand flat on his desk purposefully. "Even if you don't want to be near me - and I understand - I will make sure you are safe."

"You will never be a parent to me." Sun spoke plainly. Lusamine watched him as he avoided looking at her, still sweating. He was a creature of singular beauty and had to be saved or preserved. "Anyway," he continued, pushing the argument aside without pause, "I was going to try to use Silvally's enhanced senses to track Lillie once we made it through. I also thought we should keep that piece of Nihilego around just so that Silvally can learn to fight and track it too." Lusamine hadn't been listening. She was thinking about freezing him. She'd said that she'd release all of the frozen Pokémon, never said anything about not restarting the collection. She'd had the idea before, deemed it inhumane, but now that he was suffering this much why not keep her precious boy safe for eternity? If he was going to refuse her hospitality, which was an idiotic thing to do, why not force him to understand just how safe he could be?

She could feel it like an illness, like a spider cloaking her mind in corrupt, yet enticing, silk. She had no moral compass to guide her in moments like these - the metaphorical arrow had snapped off and left her directionless, disoriented. In a trance, she removed her hand from the desk and slowly, casually glided it to Sun's cheek.

"You'll... you'll be safe with me. Sun, you'll be safe with me." The trancelike state was visible in her blank stare, her emotionless mask, her flat voice. Sun had to fight himself to prevent falling into a similar state, starting to panic as he felt every layer of protection he had tried to put up collapse - every wall, every tower, every mental castle in his head bombarded apart and crumbling to little pieces.

"Miss Lusamine, please stop... think- think about what we have to- to do..." Sun tried to make her relent, seeing that she most certainly was not intentionally pushing at his mental barriers. "Don't- don't..."

Lusamine shook her head. "Sun, I'm sorry, I didn't-" she sat back in her chair, slouching in defeat. She couldn't even control herself.

"I know." He sighed. "Were you listening?"

"N-no..." Lusamine admitted. "I - you know I have... have... _problems_..." She was having difficulty speaking to him now. "Sun, do you want a... a safe word? And I'll leave?" Sun, to her surprise, smiled.

"How about... stop it now?" he offered.

"That works," Lusamine replied, with a sad smile of her own, her eyes unusually soft and kindly - Sun was used to seeing them sharp with intent and intellect. "That will definitely work. But... for now, unless you're uncomfortable, explain to me again."

"Mother, I-" Sun flinched. He steadied himself. "I was saying that using Silvally's enhanced senses we may be able to track Lillie down, and failing that, Nihilego, using the shard we kept."

Lusamine nodded along. "Yes. It makes sense." She thought about the pieces of the plan, and came to a sticking point. "But how do we get there, and how do we leave?"  
"I... I was hoping you could help with that." Sun put his hand on his shoulder, crossing his arm over his chest. He rocked on his seat nervously. "Miss Lusamine, you made the... the cage for Nebby. There has to be a way to open a portal without hurting it."

Lusamine pinched the bridge of her nose, her next words exasperated but chosen carefully. "We never found a way." The Cosmog was still quaking, and Sun gently lifted it in his arms and cradled it back and forth. Lusamine took another snapshot of Sun in her mind - there were so many vivid images she had saved of him mentally. Here his dark skin was illuminated by the soft yellow of the falling sun outside and was cast in purple from below by the Cosmog's body, blue eyes reflecting the purple and flowing with energy, while his arms held the Pokémon steady and safely. Again she was lost in a trance. "Beautiful... perfect..." she whispered and reached out to touch his face again.  
Sun looked up at her with his shining round eyes and his expression was clear. He was scared. Shifting Nebby closer to his chest, he leaned away. "Don't touch me. Don't."

Lusamine wanted desperately for him to just obey her and let her kiss him and show that she loved him, that she'd look after him forevermore. But that need for control was what kept him wary of her. "Sun, just... is it okay to touch you?"

"N-no, I just said that," he reminded her, and Lusamine withdrew her hand, her heart aching. "I- st- stop-" he wanted her to leave but couldn't command her to, couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't just tell her _'no.'_ "S-so you couldn't find a way to go to Ultra Space without hurting Nebby?"

"No," Lusamine replied simply. "We could not." Sun frowned.

"We have to."

"Sun, there isn't time. We have to sacrifice Nebby for the great-"

"No. No, we don't. There is another way."

"If you can find it, be my guest." Lusamine didn't want to come off as heartless (that was, if his perception of her wasn't already completely fucked) but was thinking about Lillie, undoubtedly already locked in Nihilego's clutches. "We... we need to save your sist- we need to... _fuck_." She planted her head on the desk ashamedly. "No- no we don't need to - you know what I meant." She spoke straight down to the surface of the desk. Nihilego writhed under the glass beside her head.

"So this wasn't all a trick. You were lying to yourself too." Sun sounded... Lusamine didn't know how he sounded. Strange.

"What does it matter?"

"You're not evil, just insane."

"Now I feel so much better."

"You're welcome." Sun bounced Nebby up and down. "Give me... give me a few hours to see if I can figure it out."

"Whatever," Lusamine slurred. She still hadn't moved. Pounding both of her fists on the desk, she moaned out loud, childishly. "Oh, Sun, what can we do?"

She heard the door close.

"S-Sun?"

The three Silvally started growling at her.

"Sure, you love him, everyone loves him, he's so-" her attitude of defeat had brought her to the point where she was willing to mock everything and anything regardless of her own hypocrisy so long as it made her feel any better.

Their growling increased in volume.

"Fine, I'm leaving, I'm going, I'm going!" She wanted to find something to throw. Hard.


	37. PARA S IIIII T T EE PARASITE

It was _inverse.  
_  
Lillie found it difficult to breathe. The air stuck like she had tonsillitis, painful and thick. Too gooey to inhale, too slick in her throat.

Breathing was, surprisingly, actually one of her biggest problems right now. Immediately after she'd been pulled through, Nihilego had let go and the tendril in question had slipped away - Lillie moved in the opposite direction. She could wait where it left her in the hope that her mother or Sun would reopen the portal, but that seemed like a very bad idea, if Nihilego was to return in force.

There was still venom in her system, pounding like a sledgehammer against her skull - not stopping there, it was also taking the broken pieces of skull it created and then nailing them into her head to boot. It felt like her mind was collapsing and her hands scrabbled at her temples in erratic and twisted ways to try and exorcise the alien fluids that girdled her.

There were sounds like spindly wind chimes as shards tinked against one another in the distance. Lillie had to pray she wouldn't run into one, the incoherent high of taking the venom now replaced with an altogether more understandable survival instinct. It still had an effect on her but couldn't control her directly. This place was not a place that she knew. Not a place she could stay.

The horror of what she'd done hit her like a freight train, scattering her mentality to the four winds. She'd raped Sun. She'd threatened to kill Sun, and thankfully hadn't done any more than hurt him. There was still the pull of the parasite in her body, dragging her back toward Nihilego, wanting to be with it, wanting to show it she was still dedicated, but she _wasn't. She wasn't Nihilego's host.  
_  
Lillie knew what she was: She was lost, alone, naked and afraid in a hellscape of what was oppositional to that which she knew, among small noises and creeping creatures that sought to take her as their own.

And there was a light in the distance, a cool red light that shone through the sharp growths and spires of gleaming minerals.

Lillie thought she might find... something there, and headed toward it, cautiously, silently. Hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, that red light was a beacon into somewhere better.

Staggering through the twisted landscape she found a constant _thrum_ beneath it all. The place she was in had a slow, steady pulse of its own. Very slow paced. Very... very soothing. Her own heart rate was slowing. She was seeing the place more and more as home. High above there was a vaulted stone roof through holes in which a black sun shone. It hurt to look at, but wasn't bright.

Lillie was in some kind of cave in Ultra Space then. Or... there was a... a sheen, a mist that swung back and forth above. She was underwater. The rise and fall of those tides above were what she'd interpreted as a heartbeat. This was Ultra Space's closest equivalent to the ocean. With that thought she became even more helpless.

If there were any citizens of Ultra Space that could help her, that knew morality and weren't simply mindless monsters, she was out of reach of them, in a sea she could breathe, in a chasm she couldn't swim out of.

Bottomless pit. Devouring maw. Inescapable jaw. Forever swallowed.

Ugly thoughts that she deserved to be here found voice in her subconscious. _'I hurt Sun. I swore I'd never be like... be like mother... and...'  
_  
In a place like this, morale was everything. And hers was slipping and sliding and skidding off the rails, justifiably so. Lillie had betrayed herself under Nihilego's control.

But the light was hope. It was potential. What if others were lost here? She thought about her current state and became more self aware of her nakedness. If there were others... they'd understand. _'They won't... won't hurt me. We'll- we'll all be stuck together, so... maybe it'll be okay.'_ She was vulnerable, and that vulnerable nature was highlighted by Nihilego's method of attack - needles, injections, syringes of venom, bare skin only making that instinctual fear stronger.

She froze, hand on one of those odd gemstone trees as she saw the source of the light. It was a Nihilego, maybe _hers,_ channeling the light striking off of one of the ruby chunks in a nearby rock stack. Lillie knew why it was doing that. It was like a Lanturn, trying to draw her in with pretty light now that she knew it's nefarious nature. Yet, even though she knew... Nihilego had always been _ow..._ a force for good. A beautiful thing. It only wanted to help, she'd abused its power _oh.  
_  
OH

 **OH MY  
**  
 _FUCKING  
_  
MY MY MY MY MY MY

M I N D

M I N E

Lillie, while focusing on Nihilego, hadn't seen the tendril that was separate from the main body. She'd been too scared of the main body to think that pieces could act individually. A length of about twenty inches had hidden on the rock stack she'd paused beside. Slithered along her arm like a jolt of electricity, and jabbed into her spine, hijacked her very nervous system, aligning itself with her spinal column and interfacing with her nerves, an accuracy gained through millennia of immortal existence preventing Lillie from feeling any pain as the takeover happened.

Then-

 _Buried_  
 _Needles sharps dispose into_  
 _Veins_ _ **burst**_ _with_ _ **black liquid**_  
 _SUPER_ _ **NOVA**_ _BLAST A-PART (OF) YOU(')R(E) MIN(D)/(E)_

Autopilot mode was switched on it had complete control there was no way to resist because it was her and she was it and she had no thoughts of her own and Nihilego had no thoughts of its own her head was void and empty lillie was that a name or a thing or a who or a what or a where? Directive: rejoin with the core reconnect to the rest create a cocoon and then it was going to  
 ** _E A T_**  
 ** _Y O U_**  
T A K E  
 ** _WHATEVER_**  
 _ **I**_  
 _ **W A N T**_  
F R O M  
Y O U  
 _ **LILLIE**_

Lips hung loosely. Black had ran down them, running all the way away, where the host could only envy it. Nihilego formed a throne, a throne that bloomed, slithered, bound and writhed, medusan.

The back of her skull had been peeled open and a crystalline flower comprised of many individual shards bloomed within, attached to a white vine of similar form that pulsated malevolently. A slow mockery of a heartbeat. The host could hear it. Swelling, then shrinking. Swelling, then shrinking. Pumping something, something horrific and numbing, into the host's head.

There were more crystals growing around her. The throne was expanding outward, growing like a plant. There were long, cold tendrils squeezing the host's thighs, the hold becoming uncomfortable every time they pulsated with black nectar. Like hospital drips, feelers were touching her ankles and wrists. There were at least ten seconds between each pulse, enough for the host to feel dread. But they felt so little. This was a horrific dream, but it was quite pleasant to be locked inside. To know nothing but nothing.

The thing that held her was natural. It was. Not in the sense that it was kind, no. Indeed, now the host knew the whole truth, that this thing didn't even know what love was, it had never spoken to her, _it had never told her a thing.  
_  
Nihilego had no brain. What it touched merely sought the means to achieve its most base desires. Use Nihilego as an excuse. So long as they came to it and let it feed as it now did. Funnily enough, it was all the host had felt before becoming a part of the parasite. Hunger. For things that perhaps were not edible. And Nihilego was eating - a slithering chrysalis of components and constructs constricting and conforming. Drawing, reforming. Malforming her.

Tentacles skidded across flat, soft, alien rocks, moving without true meaning. The tendrils chinked and clinked as the glassy substance tapped and bounced off of stone. The feelers were so very numerous, overwhelming in density as they writhed. There was no bell to this Nihilego - it had diverted every shard to ensnaring the juicy prey it had secured, losing its form to become a deep web. It could be whatever shape suited it, and the lattice was a good choice for now.

The host felt another swelling from the tentacle plugged into the back of their head, and one of the tendrils around her thighs raised its sharp tip into the air, quivering, sniffing something out. Her unseeing eyes, pupils small as full stops, focused on the feeler that she could not see. She felt like it was _there_ , it was definitely _there_ , but she couldn't _see it._ Another tendril wrapped over her left arm reached out to touch it and shards transferred between them, clicking as they connected together. The one around her arm became shorter, while the one around her thigh became longer.

If the host was conscious, they'd be afraid that the extended limb was about to plunge into their sex and violate what little was left of them. But that fear would have been unfounded. The white mass extended toward her while keeping its hold over her leg tight, then there was a sucking feeling in the back of her head. If she could think, she'd visualize about all the venom drenched bits of her collapsed brain it was probably ripping away from her. But-

Lillie's eyes focused again. The sucking was the removal of the venom that clogged her head. She saw the tendril, and regarded it with horror as it sloped closer, touching her face languidly. She couldn't feel where it had been against her, all of the nerves in her skin having either shut down to facilitate Nihilego's needs or been removed altogether. It pulled back some.

 _'Lillie, you're very brave. Your flesh is delicious, and will sustain me for millennia.'_ Lillie tried to reply but Nihilego had stripped out her lungs, filled them with crystal shards, and for certainty in her silence had taken control of her mouth and kept it hanging, agape. She was hallucinating the voice, refusing to believe she could ever fall prey to a nerveless and empty creature. _'You will not die until my feeding is complete. We will spend a forever together.'_ As Lillie attempted to move, she realised her whole back was impaled on pieces of Nihilego that had formed a network inside of her, replacing all her organs and veins. The length that had attached to her spine was the port for the annex inside her. She wanted to scream and did not have any systems left in her body to allow her to.

Lillie turned her eyes away from the tendril near her face, and as she did so the tentacle plunged into her like the one that was pumping earlier. This one attached to her cheek, and if she looked down she could see the transparent pieces bulging as they removed little elements of her biomass and took them.

This was how it fed.

It'd strip her down, like a scrap car, like spare parts. Use any biomass it couldn't draw energy from for breeding, to create more pieces of itself. Bulge. Her head felt soggy and unclear again, and the host reclined back into her throne of thorns as more and more tendrils were constructed and deconstructed to form tubes to take parts of her elsewhere, where Nihilego fed on them.

It was like being mummified. The paradoxical, layered nightmare that she couldn't remember was truer than she had thought. Nihilego's host's skin had turned a light blue, and her imitation of breath cast a pallor of dusty particles through the air that shimmered like multicolored gems. There were so many crystals that it was impossible to see in some places where the host ended and the Ultra Space native began, and then where Nihilego's current form was separated from the crystal tree around it.

Again the draining sensation happened and Lillie became conscious. She was so inebriated and entangled that Nihilego was purposefully allowing her moments of consciousness to observe her fear and panic before it dragged her back under the black ocean - not out of malevolence, but idle curiosity. She was experiencing a sensation of violation unlike anything she'd ever felt before - at her mother's hands, at her own hands...

Single shards wriggled in her lap like so many silver maggots. Lillie could watch them, but when she tried to think of their purpose or even what they were she was unable to consider more than two words before she was stopped dead by a powerful, familiar note, an abrasively high pitched tone that rattled and scratched. Nihilego softly warning her that thought was a thing of the past unless she was willing to share. It would share with her, though.

The sound grew too loud and Lillie saw in her mind's eye a horrifying image of herself. Her limbs looked like they were stretched out too far and her eyes were entirely gold, black pupils like islands in glassy, unseeing oceans of necrotic yellow. Clusters of shards grew from her like absurd flowers, and these shards twisted and breathed where she could not.

Nihilego was using her body as a breeding ground, and while she couldn't remember what it had told her, not that she could recall it had told her anything at all, she found peace in the idea she'd die soon.

But Nihilego carefully nursed her mind and soul as she continued to drift in and out of conscious thoughts, being pumped full of venom and shards emerging from her systems before the invasive presence receded and she was lucid for brief seconds. It would not let its love die before it was done feeding... and that, for an immortal, mindless beast like itself, was a long time.


	38. PARENT (part two) slash PARADOXICAL

Lusamine threw the Poké Doll. _Hard.  
_  
It bounced off the wall, and she paced the length of the room to retrieve it and throw it again, each time trying to throw even harder than the last. Sure, it'd give her a significant amount more satisfaction to toss something breakable, something that could shatter into tiny pieces that she could watch scatter in her violent wake, but doing so would be a shameful waste and hardly befitting of her.

So instead she kept throwing the Poké Doll, and it kept having no visceral feedback, no crack, no fissure opening in it, no satisfying thump of contact, hardly a smack against the wall. It was so deeply unfulfilling.

Lusamine had cleaned Lillie's room to postpone her pent-up rage's demands to be heard. The venom, the vomit and the sweat were mopped up and removed as best as possible, Lusamine putting all the effort she could into the manual labor. She wasn't used to the physical workload and indeed in five minutes of crawling on her hands and knees, the stench making her retch, she had a flaring pain in her back and her palms felt numb from where she'd propped herself up on them. This wasn't her, this hadn't been her realm, this was strange, but it was enough to distract her.

But now she was on two feet again, where she belonged, where she was strong, and where she could express the typhoon of enraged helplessness. It was helplessness that drove her to this - throwing about the Poké Doll she had given Lillie on her first birthday.

"YOU _FUCK!_ YOU FUCKING- YOU- WHY COULDN'T YOU STOP ME? WHY COULDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" Everything was in ashes, and for all her intelligence, for all her businesslike manner and image, for all that she had done to hide her nature and her machinations, it was gone. _"Look upon my works, and despair,"_ she quoted to herself as the violent surge left her. The golden 'glitter' present in the air of the house seemed to have vanished with the rest of the illusions, abandoning her now that it knew a collapse was imminent.

Sun was still absent, and Lusamine wondered if he'd up and left. He couldn't be blamed if he had. Sun was working on whatever pseudoscience he could cook up to open a portal without harming the Cosmog. His naivety was charming, but pointless. Lusamine loved Pokémon. She had tried to find a way to open the portal herself without killing the Cosmog and had come up short. Pokémon... _Pokémon.  
_  
She still had things to set right.

She rushed down into the catacombs beneath her home in a state where she did not know exactly where she was or what she was doing. Not a trance, she was conscious and self-aware, but all she knew was that this had to be done now before she could come up with an excuse to not go through with it. Reaching the centre platform and bringing up the holographic panel to access all the local systems, with a trembling hand she entered the first four letters of her password. Without her command, her fingers folded inward, preventing her from typing any further. Instead of the blue projections being the focus of her attention, the empty plinth where Nihilego had once been contained drew her eyes.

"Revenge," Lusamine muttered to herself. "Revenge."

Back to typing the final four letters. It bought her a savage pleasure, knowing she'd end that creature soon while on some sort of crazy sortie into its territory. She wouldn't let Sun come with her. She had to do this alone to atone as best she could, go and attempt to rescue Lillie by herself and let Sun get on with his life. This nightmare was hers to endure. It was of her creation and of her design. Now a solitary finger hung over the button that would unfreeze all the Pokémon, with the intent to rectify what was wrong.

She pressed the button, stuffing any reservations she had down. With a hiss, the past rose again... for a brief moment.

* * *

Sun had tried everything he could. He'd researched every last fact on Cosmog he could find, and was entirely blank. He'd been around every wing of the Foundation and recorded how it interacted with other Pokémon, and with each type biome. Yet still there were no results: no strong bursts of energy, no larger wisps of star-smoke.

He'd taken Nebby back down to the atrium, and was going to ask the President if she'd help him study the Cosmog. Sun was unable to place the conflicting emotions inside him at rest regarding Lusamine. He isolated himself from thoughts about the President by catering to Nebby.

"They called you..." Sun said as he softly pushed the gaseous stardust in concentric patterns, "the child of the stars."

Nebby squealed in response and rubbed against Sun's wrist. While Nebby's antics made him happy, a chill slithered through his body. Sun could feel some sort of intent, malevolence, glanced up from Nebby to meet the gaze, and saw Faba staring from across the atrium. The moment their eyes met Faba began to march toward him, Sun taking a few steps away, searching for an escape: none presented itself to him. In no time the Branch Manager was scowling at him face to face.

"Boy, what are you doing here?" Faba asked him, and the irritation in Faba's voice put Sun even more on edge. "And with _that_ Pokémon, too! Shouldn't you be at home with your mother?" Sun could tell from Faba's tone that the man had always been itching to tell him the truth.

"Um, I- I'm allowed here... I have to be... be here..." Sun saw people hesitating, tourists and guests both. He didn't want a scene over this, he just wanted to curl up and hide away. Commotion, noise he couldn't understand, scared him.

Faba's eyes narrowed behind insectoid glasses. "And if I ask your mother, she will say the same?"

"Y- yes..." Sun tried to stay calm but the idea that Faba was suddenly going to drag him away and put that device on his head again was burning into his mind with stark clarity. He would be strapped down and writhe and scream to no avail as he forgot everything again. "Yes, she will."

"Hmph." Faba didn't look like he was convinced by Sun's response. He turned to the side briefly. "The Cosmog... was it just used to open a portal?"

Sun didn't reply, looking at the ground, afraid, mumbling to himself.

"Answer me, child! Do not act so insolent!"

"Y- yes, it was!" Sun hugged Nebby against his chest and the Cosmog placed both wispy arms against him in a mock cuddle of its own.

"And what happened? I recognised the signs of atmospheric disturbance. What happened?!" Faba was raising his voice and Foundation employees were rushing to guide the public away from the disturbance he was causing.

Sun wanted to run straight back to the mansion, thinking he'd be safer there - one of his voices, one of his _interpretations_ of what was real, second-guessed him, reminding him that everything here was dangerous. "Um, I don't think I should-"

"Listen, boy, you'll tell me or I'll drag you back to that house and see for myself." Faba looked like he loomed over Sun when in reality he was the shorter of the two and Sun was shrinking away, crouching down defensively, scared.

"I'll- I'll tell miss- mother," he corrected himself, but Faba noticed the slip up. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Sun to keep his story straight.

"Miss? You refer to her as- wait- you're not..." Faba had a nervous tic in his eye. Sun was ready to bolt the moment Faba suggested something. "You're remembering."  
Faba moved before Sun did, catching Sun's wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. "Let me go- _let me-"_ as Sun struggled Nebby floated by his waist, trying to hide behind him. Faba, aware of the problems he would generate if too many people noticed him wrestling with Sun, released him.

"You'll come with me, boy, or you'll regret it." Faba spoke down to Sun. Sun, still resilient, shook his head.

"You don't understand- my mother, she-"

The last Faba had heard Lillie had been planning to take Lusamine away to Ultra Space. Sun had the Cosmog and was no longer in the President's presence - so Lillie's plan must have worked. Jumping to this conclusion, Faba deduced that now was the time to be rid of Sun. "I understand," Faba interrupted, hustling to promote himself to President in the interpreted power vacuum. "But if she's gone, we need to-"

"She's gone?" Sun asked. "What do you mean? Lillie-"

"Yes, yes, I know," Faba interrupted again. "Now, we had better see about hiding the President's mistakes-"

"W- wait, no-"

"-and that means that you, boy, should be disposed of."

Sun wished that he'd brought a Silvally with him. "No- my mother is fine, she's-"

"Then what happened?!"

"Lillie's gone! She got taken through the portal!" Sun tried to explain to Faba, and the Branch Manager heard the words 'Lillie' and 'portal', and ignored everything else, overjoyed that Lusamine might finally be gone. He cackled with delight. "Come now," Faba demanded, but before he could act further he was interrupted by another voice.

"Excuse me, Faba." The speaker was Wicke, and Sun was relieved to see her. She approached clutching a datapad to her chest, and greeted Sun with a smile and a wave.

"Hello, Sun."

"H-hi," Sun said, managing a nervous smile of his own now she had come to his aid. There were so many people who knew, who could blow this out of proportion and ruin everything for both him and Lusamine. Not ruin- but it was difficult to tell what others wanted, what they could get from the situation. Sun should be seeking as much help as possible but felt that he needed to keep Lusamine's secrets. "Miss Wicke, my mother, she-" Sun didn't know where he was going with this - surely the less people knew what had happened, the better.

"Yes, yes," Faba spoke over Sun. "The president has vanished-"

"No she hasn't!" Sun exclaimed. "She hasn't!"

Wicke shot a sidelong glance at Faba. Sun considered the web of lies and deceit he was tied up in and how much he should know compared to how much he did know. There had to be a way to solve this. "What's happened, Sun?" Wicke asked gently. There was pity in her voice, but also a great deal of honesty and care. Sun knew that she only meant well for him, and appreciated her concern.

"She's fine. It's fine. There's nothing wrong," he lied. There was so much wrong. Wicke could help him. Wicke could get him out of here and away from Lusamine. Sun wanted to blurt it all out but he couldn't, he had to save Lillie first-

"Then, I have to ask, what are you doing out here?" She put her index and middle finger against the right hinge of her glasses and peered down at him. "I'm sure your mother is very worried about you."

"No, she knows I'm here, she knows-" Sun protested. He didn't want to go back to the mansion without a solution for the Nebby problem. "Miss Wicke, it's okay. Everything is fine."

"I doubt it," Faba said. "I think the atmospheric disturbance was a result of a portal being opened and your 'mother' passing through it."

"Excuse me, Faba-"

"That's Branch Manager Faba, Wicke-"

"Branch Manager Faba, please, let me talk with Sun." Wicke sidled slightly closer to Sun, knowing Faba had nothing good planned for him.

"Very well," Faba replied. He'd bide his time until the President's vanishing was official - the actual content of the conversation had been mostly ignored by him so confident was he in Lillie's success. "Wicke, I trust that you will explain what happened later," he added.

"Yes, Branch Manager Faba." As the scientist sloped away Wicke exhaled a heavy breath and faced Sun. "Now, Sun, what happened? We know something occurred from the storm that started to brew. Thankfully it was dispersed as quickly as it began."

Sun blinked. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't say a word. Wicke leaned down a little, placing her hands on her knees to be at eye level with him, crouching slightly due to her heels. "Sun, if something is wrong, you'll let me know, correct?" He nodded at her question. "So, please, if there is anything I can help you with..."

"P-please..." Sun shivered and tentatively came closer. "T-take me home..."

"Back to the President?" Wicke asked.

Sun could leave. He could tell her right now to take him back to Melemele island and escape, be free, be himself again, lie down and sleep in his own bed if it was still intact. He hoped against hope that his real mom was still alive and that he could see her again.

The only thing holding him back was that saying that meant abandoning Lillie. While she had hurt him and raped him, she was still his friend, and it wasn't her fault.

"B-back to the president," Sun decided. "Back to my... my mother." He offered his hand. Wicke's eyebrows knotted with concern at the attitude he took, treating her like a parent too. She calmly took it, trying not to let that disquiet show, hoping that Sun would relax. Faba was overbearing and could be very intimidating, especially to a child like Sun.

"Come on then, Sun, let's go back to your mother." Wicke heard him sniffle and glanced back down at him. Little streaks ran down his face - he was crying. "Sun? What's the matter?"

"I don't want to be here anymore," he admitted to her, now not even caring if what he said got him into trouble. He hugged her waist, openly crying aloud now. "I don't want to-"

"Sun, do you want me to call for your mother?" Wicke wasn't sure what to do - Lusamine's madness had been kept to the President herself, and the methods she used to control and understand Sun were for her to know and her alone. Wicke had never wanted any part in this. She felt conflicted - she didn't know if she should hug Sun back or if she should reprimand him for being so clingy.

"I- I-" Sun sobbed, holding onto her as if she was all that existed. Thankfully, they had moved out of the atrium and back toward Lusamine's abode, no longer in public. With every short, delayed step that Wicke could wheedle Sun into taking, his mental collapse seemed all the more pronounced. Finally, Sun could go on no longer and fell to the deck of the Paradise in a heap, Nebby crying out with fear at his sudden fall.

Sun moaned and continued to cry as he-

 _"What- what do you want with me?" Sun choked into the white platform. There was a thin film of water on the deck of the Paradise which just made the experience of lying flat on his front, face down, all the more uncomfortable.  
_  
-figured out what to do to stop all the crashing and rolling riptides of trauma that wracked his damaged frame and made his sanity sway in the winds of fear. He had to at least briefly believe the lie again, and he'd feel comfortable, go back to being normal, relaxed.

Sun felt some kind of movement being forced onto him as he tried to arrange his memories into neat folders and boxes inside his head so that Aether Sun couldn't permanently claim him again. He wasn't prepared to lose all that he was another time, but knew it'd hurt even worse if he kept on in this state. Sun couldn't handle this stress, but Aether Sun could, because he didn't care. Sun was binary, not one, but two - and tried to manually flip the switch for the first time. To give Aether Sun some kind of control.

"Ack-" Sun's hand spread flat on the deck as a jolt of something lit up his spine. The white surface was warm and welcoming, and he almost wanted to stay where he was until Wicke could scrape him back up and keep him going - but he had a new purpose. The tears stopped, as he couldn't understand what he had even been crying for.  
"Sun? Do you-"

"I'm okay!" He sat up again, rubbing his head. "Where were we going?" Nebby did a little circle of his head, chirping as it did. Sun's head followed it around until he could no longer twist his neck any further, and almost got whiplash from how fast he turned to see Nebby emerge from behind him. "Hi, Nebby." He caught Nebby from the air and cuddled it.

"Sun?" Wicke asked. Her inflection was still even but a slight shake betrayed her worry for Sun's health.

"Yes, miss Wicke?" He got back up to his feet, with a big smile as he rocked Nebby back and forth in his hands. "Miss Wicke?" Sun blinked at her.

"Um... let's hurry along... to your... your mother." Wicke didn't need to hold his hand anymore - Sun was jogging ahead, giggling to himself. Nebby sang alongside him. Wicke followed at her own pace - thinking of choice words to say to the President when she saw her. Wicke would take matters into her own hands if she had to with no regrets. It was the right thing to do.

Sun barged through the mansion's double doors, exclaiming, "Mother! I'm back!"

* * *

Lusamine glanced up from her hands, mouth agape. The trauma of dealing with all of the immobile, unresponsive Pokémon had been far too much for her to bear, disposing of them in Poké Balls, putting them in the PC system that she detested so.

Having only just emerged from the crypt she'd once thought of as a trophy room, sat in against the wall with the mirror concealing the passage to her right, she was screaming and beating her fists into the floor as she wailed and spit wildly. Consequence was not something she was used to dealing with, and she knew only one way to handle it - this. Flipping out and breaking things, letting off an explosion of the untamed vicious urges that she had to keep inside for too long, not knowing who or what to blame.

Sun had just called her 'mother' again, though, and whatever had happened to him to make that change she was grateful for. There was something deeply ingrained in him that she had recognised and tried to exploit, so that she could keep him - no, not keep, that was too... too _predatory_ \- so that she could look after him still. So she had to make herself presentable.

She pushed herself up off of the floor, patting down her dress and glancing toward the origin of the shout. Lusamine quickly peered into the mirror, clutching at its edge with a little too much force and nearly prying open the passage again. Noticing red marks under her eyes, she gently dragged her index fingers over the underside of her eye sockets. It wouldn't change anything, but it was impulse, and she was very susceptible to impulse.

Swiping her hair habitually she steadied her breathing and went to meet him. "I- I'm right here, Sun-" no sooner had she pushed the door open and caught a glimpse of him before he was on the move.

"Mother-" Sun cried and rushed toward her.

Lusamine caught him in her arms, transferring the momentum of his movement into her hold and turning on her heels before clutching him in a very paternal way.  
"Why- oh, Sun," Lusamine smiled. "What is it?" What had brought on this change? Had he made a conscious choice to ignore the truth and let himself believe the lie? If that was true, by Arceus, all her problems were as good as solved.

"I just- I got- scared- and, and-"

"By what? What's wrong?" Lusamine was wondering what could have made him rush back to her. He knew the truth, he'd already expressed that to her, already made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her. As she hugged Sun tighter, trying to envelop him and save him from whatever it was that had Sun frightened, the President noticed the other figure in the room. "Wicke? What happened?"

"It was the Branch Manager. You know how overbearing he can be." Faba. Lusamine's face visibly darkened. "Miss President, we have to talk."

"Can it wait?" Lusamine's eyes flitted to Sun, before returning to Wicke's face. Wicke understood - the President wanted Sun to be happy - or wanted to be alone with Sun for whatever reason, the full gamut of potential making Wicke shiver - before anything else, but they had to discuss Sun immediately. This was pushing Wicke's boundaries. What she'd witnessed was schizophrenia, induced in a child by the level of torment he'd faced.

"No, no we can't. Miss President, this is important." Wicke gestured, impatient. She couldn't deal with Lusamine's lax attitude right now. "Sun, you don't mind if I speak to your mother, do you?"

"No, miss Wicke." Sun squirmed briefly in Lusamine's arms and nuzzled her shoulder. Lusamine patted him on the back and allowed herself a smile before letting him go.  
"Sun, why don't you go to your room while we talk and you can tell me what you found out about Nebby when we're done?" Sun nodded with a radiant look, and taking Nebby by one of the stumpy appendages he rushed up the stairs. The Cosmog squealed as it was dragged along by Sun's enthusiasm.

Wicke placed her hands on her hips, angrily demanding Lusamine's attention. The President recognised the no-nonsense demeanor and crossed her arms. "So, what is it?"

"Sun is - I can't explain what I saw. But it was like he was - was two people. One of them was afraid, he was scared, he didn't want to move - he said 'take me home,' and 'I don't want to be here anymore.' You know what I said about this sick experiment. I can't act along anymore." Wicke's voice was unusually rugged and accusatory. Lusamine was used to hearing her voice in a softer, more introductory context, speaking to guests and tourists.

"What are you going to do?" Lusamine asked, trying to keep any idea of challenge out of her voice to keep the conversation amicable. Her effort was in vain however, and the 'you' escaped her mouth with the faintest barb to the word.

"I'll contact the-"

"Don't- don't-" Lusamine's composure instantly fell apart. "You can't do that, I won't- you don't understand, he's remembering-"

"You'll do the right thing then? If he's remembering the best thing to do is to turn yourself in-"

Lusamine's emotions were on a cresting wave, rising and ready to smash and crash her fragile idea of getting away with it all. "No, no, he's still - he's still mine, I can still control him-"

"Miss President, if you do not act I will be forced to." Wicke had fucking betrayed her. Sun could still be tamed and made safe, and made into her son, he needed to be for his own wellbeing. Taking him away would hurt him, Lusamine was certain. The way he'd just acted told her that even if he was schizophrenic that he, or a piece of him, still adored her. She'd wrap up that piece and nurture it until it consumed him once again, forevermore.

"Wicke, did you not see how he loves me?" Lusamine had to defuse her Vice President before she did something that she'd regret. "He is still-"

"You didn't see him. He was crying, sobbing, I had to pull him with me before his personality flipped." Wicke was exaggerating, Lusamine decided. Sun was emotional, but he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. "He fell to the deck and then just like that he was off, rushing right back."

"Then he needs me! He cannot - he cannot be separated from me, I am his-"

"You are insane!" Wicke's words went straight over Lusamine's head. "He is a child-"

"He's a teenager-" Lusamine argued pathetically.

"-and you have torn him apart! No wonder you haven't let him leave your house in- in weeks!" Wicke scowled. "I'm going to take this into my own-"

"-NO! DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!" Silence settled on the room like dust, scattering in a light blanket. A heartbeat of time passed in which both women thought about the other's priorities and allegiances. "Don't take him away."

"Miss President, have you ever heard the expression, _'if you love something, let it go?'_ Sun is hurt. This game of yours is all over." Wicke couldn't understand how she'd ever let Lusamine do what she did, turning a blind eye to Sun. That mistake had to be rectified, now, with or without the President's approval.

"Wicke, I can't just let him go. You- you don't know what's been happening. Lillie- oh, Arceus, Wicke, it's a mess..."

"You're right it's a mess. It's time to clean it up." Wicke was speaking in the tone that Lusamine was accustomed to again, and she was now closer to the President. "You need to take action now."

"Wicke- there's something going on, I can't explain it, but- I need- I need three days." Lusamine wouldn't let Sun go without trying to save Lillie first, because that was Sun's plan, and he'd already made it clear he intended to be the one to put it into action.

Wicke didn't for a second change her stance. "No, miss President. No, you can't have three days. You can't have any more time. This is over, Sa- Lusamine."

"Wicke, you don't understand. My- Arceus, Wicke, the... you... how do I explain this?"

"I have all the time in the world."

Lusamine took a deep breath and her toxic green eyes sharpened.

"So, what did you find out about Nebby?" Sun gave Lusamine an anxious look in response. That concerned her - she'd expected him to find something, some way to get through to Nebby and have it willingly open a portal. But that look - that look told her that no, even with all of his practical talent that he'd picked up he had no answer for their problem.

"Mother, I don't know how to- I tried a few things, but we don't have long, but I don't want to hurt Nebby... please - can we have a bit longer?"

 _Arceus fucking damn it.  
_  
Wicke had agreed to meet Lusamine halfway once Lusamine had explained her situation (not entirely truthfully), but that left her and Sun without much time. They only had until they brought Lillie back, which was something the real Sun had wanted - to be rid of Lusamine as soon as possible after saving Lillie.

So it was possible. If she just let him go, she could get away with it all.

But she didn't _want_ to let him go.

If Lillie was dead, then what she would do was up in the air. She couldn't release Sun if that was the case - what was she to do? Relive the intense, howling loneliness that came to her when her children abandoned her? Never again. That had made her turn even further to Nihilego and bury herself in its limbs and poison. It had made her make Sun.

The ordeal had already taken enough of a toll on her mental state, enough to leave her stunned and confused at the smallest things - she was once a mindful, contemplative person, but now everything was 'act on instinct', because there was never the time to think or consider her options.

"Sun, we can't wait for this. We can't, not while Lillie's in danger."

"B-but, mother, if we- I don't want to hurt it," he said and gestured to Nebby. By now it was evening and the small glow that Nebby emanated was more pronounced, the impression that the look gave it one of vulnerability, one that made Lusamine not want to kill it. They had to.

"Sun, if we don't act quickly then Lillie might-"

"B-but we can't hurt Nebby... what would she think?" Sun peered up at her with wide eyes.

"She would think that we went to the ends of the earth to save her and did what we had to do."

Something about the sentence caused a reaction in Sun that snapped him out of the mode he was in. He retched suddenly, making Lusamine flinch. As if his head was coming up from the depths of the sea, he leaned back and gulped down oxygen with loud and rattling heaves. "Agh- oh," he managed, lowering his head again and placing it against the palm of his hand. "You can't... can't even begin to know what you've... what you've done to me." His voice was deep and throaty, damaged. He was broken.

"Wicke explained-"

"Wicke doesn't know what happened. I had to- I had to manually- I had to make myself into that other- I had to switch my personality. I was scared." Sun wasn't looking at her. "Everything- all the pressure, all the- the fear... I had to believe the lies you told me to cope." Sun knew what that meant. If he was allowed to leave, he may not even want to as a result of this. He had a horrible, conflicting addiction to her.

"Sun, just... just go now. I'll take care of everything, I'll save Lillie-"

"Firstly I don't trust you to, and secondly the Silvally don't trust you either." Sun still hadn't met her eyes, which were regarding him with sadness. "We're not killing Nebby."  
"We have to."

"No, we don't, there has to be another way-"

"When I was twenty-seven, Sun, I was looking for a way to bridge the gap. When I was thirty-seven, I found a way, a way that was inhumane, that I wasn't proud of, and that I paid a terrible price for using. I lost... things, things I'll never get back." Lusamine had never talked about the incident since it happened. She'd always avoided the topic when speaking to anyone regardless of their status or position in her Foundation.

"Things you'll never get back?" Sun asked.

"Yes."

"Like... like what?" Sun pried.

"Sun, please-"

"You must have been married-" he began to think out loud.

"SUN!" Lusamine screamed at him. "Sun, you- I love you, but..."

"What would he think about-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP, SUN!" Lusamine threw one of the empty cups of Tapu Cocoa that were strewn on Sun's desk at the wall and again there was no satisfying feedback, nothing to curb that thirst to see something snap and shatter under her force. Because of this lack of response, she grabbed another and threw that too. Sun stayed frozen in place. "LISTEN TO ME FOR FUCKING ONCE! DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT- ABOUT-"

She stopped, having seen how Sun was sitting. He was completely still, shellshocked by her outburst. She immediately regretted her eruption, as she had with many before it. "Sun, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Sun didn't respond, staring into the middle distance with his right hand clutching his left shoulder as he gently rocked back and forth.

"Come on, Sun, what are you doing now?" Lusamine continued to be bemused by behaviours like this. "I'm sorry, I said I was sorry..." she moved to be closer to him and touched his forearm gently. Sun didn't react to the contact.

Lusamine put out both arms and closed them around him gradually so that if he wanted he could tell her not to, but Sun didn't say a word. In fact, once she had him held tight, the verticality of his spine, how straight he was sitting, became less robotic, less formal, relaxing.

"Sun... I know that... I'm not a good person. But... you know that... I care, right? Right?"

Sun's gaze was heavy and condemning. He didn't speak. Very gradually, centimetre by centimetre, he leaned into her.

Lusamine, invisible to him now that he was resting against her, smirked. He could be controlled. Kept tight, kept close. He could still belong to her, if she could negotiate with Wicke. The Vice-President had put her in a difficult position, but Lusamine was President because she solved problems.

"Oh, Sun... I'll never let you go."

"Hmmm..." Sun sighed into her dress. "Mother..."

"That's right." Lusamine devoured the moment, thinking about every sense, every little element of the scene that she was the lead actress in.

There was touch - Sun's shirt and the tiniest part of his skin, her hand at the apex of the transition between fabric and Sun's bare body. Slightly coarse, yet after the transition pliable and yielding. Warm against her.

Sight - she saw him and only him, he was the object of her every want and need. The obsession that she'd tried to deny was now all that drove her forward. She saw where her hair, which fell haphazardly around her seat, was nearest his and observed that they still had the exact same hair colour. His glorious blue eyes and how they seemed larger than life and at the same time like lasers. Curiosity, courage and character.

The only sounds were Sun's hardly audible purrs and mumblings and the white noise of the Alolan sea. Lusamine zeroed in on the former, paying attention to each vague syllable Sun spoke. "Mm... sq... uf... hnh..." this cascade of unfocused joy brought Lusamine great pleasure to hear. He must truly adore her to be reduced to this in her presence. Before she had finished cataloguing her senses a familiar, sickly sensation bathed her in chill.

 _'Take him. Take him now. One final time. You didn't get the time you wanted, the time you deserved... you made him for a reason...'  
_  
Lusamine's fingers spasmed. Her hands moved very gradually into positions where she could hold Sun with more finesse and force a little more onto him. "Mmm..." Sun mumbled, and Lusamine's broiling darkness began to overflow. The breaths she took echoed in her emptying skull, reducing her to hunger and desire. "Mother... mommy..."

Lusamine hesitated. Her sensibilities returned to her. "I'm here, Sun. I'm here." Her hands moved back to their original positions, and where for a moment her eyes had been razor sharp and ready to pierce they were now closed in silent shame. "You're safe."

"Hmmm..."

She kissed his forehead, and Sun smiled.

"Sun, I'm going to let you go now, and we'll talk about Nebby."

"Mhm." The two parted. Sun blinked a few times, and returned to normal quickly. "Nebb- Nebby... I don't want to... to hurt it."

Lusamine had to make Sun understand that there was no other option open to them. She ran her tongue over her lower lip, thinking of the words she'd need to use. "Sun, we can't always have what we want."

Sun ruffled Nebby's gaseous body under his hand. "You made me into what you wanted."

Lusamine sidestepped the meaning of the statement. "We'll make Nebby into what we need it to be, too." She was only two words into the sentence before concluding that it was the wrong thing to say, but her mouth was on autopilot.

Sun shook his head vehemently. "Mo- Miss Lusamine, Nebby isn't just a tool for us to use whenever we want! I thought that we both loved-" Sun stopped himself, remembering all the frozen Pokémon he had seen before she'd changed him. If she loved Pokémon as she claimed, then she loved them too much. Sun reconsidered. "I love Pokémon too much to-"

"Sun..." Lusamine's tone brokered no argument, but she was still trying to let him down easy. "We've wasted enough time as it is."

"I can-"

"Sun. We'll use the machine, and Nebby will die. If the portal isn't destabilised, it'll remain open long enough for us to pass through and find her. We'll take Nebby with us and use it to exit."

"There are a hundred things that could go wrong with that plan-"

"-then don't come." Lusamine was leaning forward in her seat. "It's my family-"

"She's my friend, and I thought you wanted me to be your-"

"Sun, I was insane!" Lusamine tried to make him understand, tried to let him know what felt like _her_ and what felt like _it_ and what felt like all the others in her head demanding and craving things that would ruin her - and as she thought about those others, they spoke up in unison, in choir, and the pain made her clutch at her forehead. She faced the ground.

"You are insane!"

Lusamine's eyes rolled upwards, back to Sun, with her head still down. "Yes. But I can live with it."

Sun was a kid, ultimately. All the same, he understood what she meant, and could still argue his point. "I couldn't live with you being crazy. You wouldn't let me live. You made him." It was inching closer to that harsh, dark future she'd seen in her subconscious, recognising the other sides of himself and referring to them all as _'him',_ gradually becoming schizophrenic and confused himself.

He was her perfect son after all - she'd always been afraid to make him like her in mentality, but here he was, with her mannerisms, her struggles with other halves and other wholes. At the same time he was her antithesis.

He had patience, he had innocence. He was clever and compassionate where she was intelligent and manipulative. As they came together in mental state, they drifted apart in appearance. The only resemblance between them was hair colour.

"I did make him. And I loved him. And I love you too much to put you at risk."

Sun's expression didn't change, but the shine of his eyes told her about his change in emotion. "I have to do this."

"Then we have to kill Nebby."

Alola fell silent in moratorium, or so it would seem. Even the sea hushed; if only for a brief time.

Nebby cheerfully 'pewed', making Sun look away. Lusamine did feel bad about what they had to do, but she knew that Nebby's death was the prerequisite to save Lillie. "Sun, I'll handle Nebby. You need to train the Silvally group."

"O-okay," Sun mumbled, and his voice quaked, his eyes shimmered. His breath wobbled. A shaking hand gathered the trio of Poké Balls from his desk and hovered by Nebby for a moment. Sun put the spheres back down and raised Nebby in his hands, hugging it tight. "I... I'm sorry," he whispered, and Nebby, not understanding, hugged him back. Sun let go and grabbed the Poké Balls again. He quickly went to get out of the room, and Lusamine understood why.

"Miss Lusamine, how should I get them to track Lillie?" Sun asked.

"There's a Poké Doll she had since she was little. They can... they can pick up her scent from that. It's in her room."

Sun left.

* * *

An hour and a half later, night had devoured Alola. The time was soon approaching.

Lusamine had never originally been concerned with returning to reality after journeying to Ultra Space, but it was still possible. Once the Cosmog was dead, torn apart by the torturous and convulsive current of electricity, then the case it was in would yield a fully charged 'battery' of Cosmog's energy. This 'battery' could be destroyed and create a 'return' portal for a brief time.

Lusamine was glad that there was at least something they could use. It'd take too long to develop something new, and if they failed... hopefully Nihilego wouldn't know how to get through the portal. The last time she'd tried to get to Nihilego it had caused portals to appear all across Alola, but it was possible to prevent that with certain buffers. At the time, Lusamine had been looking to spread the infection, not prevent it - and had been so blasted by the venom she hadn't cared about collateral damage.

She encouraged Nebby into the case, but didn't switch it on, listening to its confused bumbling inside. Lusamine sighed. "Arceus, I'm sorry." Sun was in the room with her, and wasn't looking. He was too afraid.

"Do we have to do this?"

"Yes. For Lillie."

"...for Lillie."

"Sun, I'm going to save Lillie alone. You don't deserve to be hurt by that thing if it goes wrong. I have to keep you safe."

"I've already said, I'm coming. I beat Nihilego before! I can-"

"I have my Pokémon." It was true. She had her own battling team ready. It was more ceremonial than serious, but she knew that her team had the potential to deal serious damage against any threat. She could do it.

"Miss Lusamine, I have the things you built to kill Ultra Beasts."

"Then give them back."

Sun hugged the nearest Silvally - they were roaming around outside of their Poké Balls. The chimera nuzzled him and crooned, giving him an exceptionally light headbutt. "N-no, I'm going with you, and I'm taking them with us. They won't listen to you."

Lusamine frowned. "Sun, please-"

"I'm not going to change my mind, miss Lusamine-"

"-what if I make you change your mind?"

Sun's throat dried out and he licked his lips. "Then I'd tell everyone what you did."

Lusamine had a choice. A significant one.

She could do right by Sun, protect him, keep him safe, and be rightly punished for what she had done if she returned alive.

Or she could let him come, put him at risk, and dodge the consequences of her actions - at least for longer than she would if she did make Sun stay.

The President of the Aether Foundation ran her fingers over the black case Nebby was inside, and it could be heard snoring. Her nails slid against the surface with a smooth _'skrrrrrrrrrrrrr'.  
_  
Sun was watching her intently. His hand was idly stroking the mane of the Silvally he had hugged, but it too seemed more interested in the conflict than Sun's touch.  
Lusamine swept her hair to the right. Sun unintentionally mimicked her.

"Fine. Let's... let's go."


	39. PARADISE

The case was set. The storm that it would generate could be buffered out with enough restrictions, preventing the rest of Alola from knowing that two of its citizens had crossed into another world.

Lusamine had her retinue in their Poké Balls - a Clefairy, a Lilligant, a Mismagius, a Milotic and a Bewear - while around Sun were the three Silvally. The three chimeras stared into the space in front of them, awaiting the portal's opening, with the same determination that Sun and Lusamine refused to acknowledge one another with as the LED bar on the case filled up again.

Nebby was screaming.

The single Nihilego shard that they had kept had been savaged by the Silvally trio so that the three could understand what they faced. Sun had each of their primary types set to Steel now that the RKS System upgrades allowed two types to be active at once - the Steel typing would prevent the Silvally trio from becoming infected, Sun knowing Steel was immune to Poison. He would command them to equip their secondary types depending on the situation.

Nebby's agony reached its zenith and with a fizzle of light a thin gash appeared in reality. The hairline crack in spacetime throbbed before splitting wide into a gateway large enough for each of them to make it through single file despite the variance in shapes and sizes.

The grid pattern that the portal pulsated outward faded away the further it was from the source. They'd created the portal in Lillie's room. If the theories on exact travel between the two realms were true, then Lillie's room corresponded to a point in Ultra Space that could be reached by making a new portal in roughly the same place. If those theories were untrue, then they may never find her. Both put that fact to the bottom of their minds.

Outside the night remained clear, the only sign that the dimensions were being cracked a scent of ozone in the air. A slight reverberative noise emanated from the portal.

"Sun, you're sticking to it?"

"Y-yes."

"I'll go first."

"Okay."

Unseen by them, Nebby changed forms, forming a hardened shell to resist the electrical current arcing through it. It'd only last so long before the Cosmog - now Cosmoem - died. The remaining energy would be used to charge the battery that could create an exit portal. Sun's face was pale as the screams fell silent.

The crackling, angry electricity cracked the shell Nebby had formed. The current snuck through, Nebby's exposed form beginning to melt under the extreme heat of the contraption, lightning scarring the core of Nebby's new body. The agony increased, ramping up and up, until in a blast of plasma Nebby disintegrated.

The case bleeped. The portal would remain stable for one minute. The device yielded the battery of Ultra Space energy, trapped inside a thin blue tube. When it was smashed, it would release the holdover energy, stabilise it and create a temporary portal to link the worlds again. Lusamine and Sun both went to take the battery, and both hesitated on seeing the other reach out. Lusamine withdrew her hand and gestured for Sun to take the battery instead, which he duly did.

If only one of them was to come back, Lusamine was determined for it to be Sun. He had to make it out safe and sound, she could deal with being stuck in Ultra Space knowing he was safe. The idea of leaving him behind was sickening - at all costs, he would make it back, even if it wasn't with her.

There was also the chance neither of them made it back, but she crushed that thought under a violent fist of resolve, formed of the confidence that came with having her Pokémon so close. She'd never seen Sun battle outside of when he'd attacked Nihilego. He'd heavily damaged it then, and the hearsay about his island challenge, his legend... they couldn't mean nothing. Firsthand, she might be about to see what got him through all the trials.

Sun put the tube of light into his pocket. "You don't want to put that somewhere safer?" Lusamine questioned.

"Like where?"

Lusamine shifted. "Good point. Just be careful with it." The portal fizzled. "Right." The building combination of tension and excitement was tangible. Lusamine moved closer to the gate. The blue light cast over her, as it had in the past, as it had when she was sane, insane, and now, when she was split down the middle. The pulsating blue caught Sun's eye and he couldn't help but stare. "You'll follow after me, yes?"

"Yeah."

Lusamine took what she was convinced would be her last breath of real oxygen and passed through. Her ears popped and she staggered, grunting with discomfort - the new air that filled her lungs was thick and difficult to inhale. It was too- too lumpy, too wrong. Glancing up from choking on this miasma, this zephyr of strange and ominous air, she regarded Ultra Space. It was enchanting. The best way to describe it would be inverse. All of these stacks of minerals, diamonds, sliding, scraping stacks of stone that swayed in among the waves of this place.

 _'This place is perfect. I belong here.'  
_  
A cough echoed from beside her, stunning her out of the thought. Sun had his hands on his knees, bent double, his breath crackling.  
"Sun?" She took his shoulder and helped him stand upright again. "Are you going to be-"

"I'm fine," he managed, but seemed to be having trouble breathing in Ultra Space's atmosphere. "This place... Nihilego showed me this." He was looking up, and Lusamine followed his gaze.

 _-A burning black sun in a hellish red sky-  
_  
High above, the surface of whatever mixture they were trapped in broke into a stone ceiling. They were in a cave filled with Ultra Space's equivalent of water, and the holes in the ceiling of the cave shone a beacon of light down into the Ultra Deep Sea, light from a red sky and a black sun.

"It's... it's strange."

"I think it's beautiful," Lusamine replied. She was only being honest - the place was so alien and so unknowable, so full of potential but endlessly dangerous too.

"I guess," Sun replied. "Just warn me before you go all crazy over it." Lusamine wondered why he was so laid-back about all this. She knew that there was some sort of deep rooted conflict in him that had prevented him from completely flipping out at her, and that he'd accidentally absorbed so many of her quirks and mannerisms that he wasn't truly who he had been anymore. There was a part, however small, of her own fractured mindset that had been pushed like a nail into his skull.

He had his hand on his hip the same way she had hers, and they simultaneously brushed their hair nervously. The three Silvally had followed Sun and were encircling him, huffing and snorting, each trying to get used to the atmosphere of Ultra Space. They sniffed and scraped their armored muzzles along the ground, barking huskily. Sun went about seeing to them, giving each one a reassuring pat of the mane.

"Alright, you guys... help us find Lillie." Gladion's Silvally nodded once. It was the most used to Lillie's scent, having spent the most time - albeit brief - around her while Gladion and Lillie were hiding from the Foundation. It pointed its muzzle left and right, the sounds of metallic sniffing audible from the triangle of steel. "Oh- miss Lusamine-"

Sun was pointing. Above them, where they had been looking moments earlier, there were now a pair of Nihilego about forty metres above the two. Lusamine instantly grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the two Ultra Beasts, dragging him to the nearest stack of rocks and gems to hide behind.

"Sun, if you see any," Lusamine said in a hushed voice, looking down at his scared face, illuminated by a green gem by his chest. His eyes were half sapphire and half emerald. "-you tell me. Okay?"

He nodded once, and the tremble in the movement told her just how scared he was. The three Silvally had followed to their hiding spot. "Moth- miss Lusamine, we need to come back in the same place-" Sun said, glancing at the clearing where they had been. The link between dimensions was exact, and if they deviated too far from their point of entry they could exit Ultra Space in the sea, off the edge of a cliff or in a wall. Neither of these were appealing results of an escape plan.

"Right. We'll wait for- for a chance, then..." Lusamine kept her arm stuck out over Sun's chest protectively. "We'll mark the spot to come back to-" the familiar noise was filling her head. It bit. It buzzed. It hurt. "Agh- Sun, they're... can you feel it?"

Sun took her hand and the buzzing quieted, the swarm of flies briefly hesitating. "I... I can... but we have to-"

Lusamine crouched down beside him and took his shoulders. "Sun, you need to get out of here. Please. I'll-"

"I'm not going without Lillie." Sun's conviction never blinkered. "If- if the Ultra Beasts come after us, I'll handle them. But... but... _he's_ scared... and he's never battled before."

At first Lusamine thought Sun was talking about one of the Silvally, then it dawned on her that he was talking about himself, about her son. "He... he hasn't." So she couldn't let her son take over Sun's body or else it'd be purely up to her to protect them. The two halves of Sun were very different.

The Nihilego above were floating up and up serenely, toward the surface together. Their limbs were touching and the two UB's were exchanging shards between them. "I wish that we could learn more about them," Sun said, and Lusamine didn't agree. She glanced back to him.

"There's no way that it could be safe. One little piece of those things could destroy a region." The two Nihilego above separated and drifted apart, ascending ever further. Lusamine and Sun stood properly again, now that the imminent danger seemed removed. "Sun, this was a terrible idea-"

"Shush," he cut her off, dismissing her concern. He moved out to the clearing again, Lusamine trying to grab his wrist before he could do so and missing.

"Sun-"

"We have to keep it together, for Lillie." He went back to where they had arrived, the Silvally sloping after him. "Fighting." At first Lusamine didn't understand what he meant, then the lead Silvally's mane, plume and eyes glowed a rusty orange colour. It made a noise like a single choke, a snort of discomfort, and raised a foreleg into the air. "Right there," Sun commanded.

It brought the limb back down and with an almighty crunch the alien stone beneath erupted in crisscross cracks that ran metres away. A marker for where they needed to return.

Lusamine flinched at the sound, her whole body tensing in response, the explosive force shaking her teeth. "Sun- don't make so much- noise..." her paranoia was beginning to make her feel weak. Staying standing was a challenge. The air was strangling her. Another breeze of decrepit wind brushed against her exposed shoulders, slithered over her with intent.

 _'I'm here...'  
_  
She could feel it. The buzzing was back, it was loud. A cold touch crept up her back, and she felt a sharp point begin to bite-

Lusamine turned. She put her back to the wall of gemstones, keeping it covered by the solid rock. The tendril was already in her flesh, though, and it was about to inject her, she could feel it- "Sun-" it dug deeper, into her veins. The Nihilego that had been trying to sneak up on her was small, made of relatively few shards, but it was no less dangerous.

He faced her, at first questioning. His eyes widened. "SILVALLY, GROUND!" The Silvally closest her changed its accent colour to a light brown. It raised both forelegs and cried a metallic shout, and the Nihilego, on a self-preservation instinct, withdrew the tentacle from Lusamine in an attempt to get away.

It was far too slow. Silvally brought both of its insectoid forelegs down and this time there was no instant gratification for the attack - a few seconds passed. Lusamine was locked in place, terrified.

Like a finger from the earth, a sharp chunk of Ultra Space rock burst from below, creating cracked plates of stone to push aside as it emerged. It shot up straight through the Nihilego, making it explode in a shower of glass shards and black venom. Lusamine screamed. There was a distance of about half a metre between her and the pillar of rock, which was drenched in Nihilego's viscera. Bits of glassy biomaterial harmlessly skidded down her dress and little black splatters found a home on the white half of the surface.

"Miss Lusamine, it didn't- you're okay, right?" Sun hadn't gotten any closer to her. He'd seen the plunger go into her, and she could feel her blood running down her back in a thin line.

"It didn't- it didn't inject me- it just stabbed me- I'm fine..." Now Sun moved over to her, the three Silvally following along. The heartbeat of the Deep Sea seemed to become a little faster, and it had an effect on both of the humans. Sun stopped moving as he felt it - Lusamine's legs gave out and she fell against the stack beside her.

"M-miss Lusamine!" She could hear his footsteps echoing off the alien surface under her hands. To faint here would be to invite death. Sun couldn't protect her for long if she passed out. Veins of threaded darkness threatened to cocoon over her eyes, and she could feel all of her body more acutely than she ever had before.

"I- I wanted to be- be here, I put you through hell just to get here- oh Arceus, I was- I was crazy, I'd lost my mind, that thing- that- _thing,_ it made me do things to you, to myself, to _my children_ \- oh, Sun, I'm so _sorry_ -" her hysteria was costing her energy that she couldn't get back. The fog they breathed continued to sink into her and weigh her down, pulling her into the ground and making her ever more desperate. Then-

He was touching her, the palm of her hand. Two fingers against it. Lusamine stopped speaking. Her index and middle finger folded inward, touching the two that Sun had put into her palm. "Miss Lusamine, we have to find Lillie."

"Sun, why don't you hate me?"

"You didn't let me." He spoke without any harshness, stating facts. They didn't help.

"I'm so sorry... I'm glad that you- that you could... control yourself again..." An echoing noise swept down from above as the tides of Ultra Space shifted again, the heartbeat slowing once more.

"Miss Lusamine, you can apologise later." Sun took her whole hand in his. "Stand up now." She put her free hand flat and pushed up, getting back to her feet. Every tendon felt sharp in clarity but dull in purpose, every muscle acting with impunity but aching with exertion. As she raised herself to a shaky stand, just as she was finishing reaching the peak of her height, she caught Sun's eye and they briefly stared at each other.

"Sun- Sun, don't-" She could tell what was going through his head. Her. She was. "Sun, you have to hold on-"

He smacked her in the face, whipping his arm across with blinding speed in the same way she might have in the past. Lusamine reeled back and hit her head on the rock.

"Agh- Fuck!" Rubbing the spot where she had hit her head, she spoke to Sun, who had partially turned away from her. "What did you-"

"If you know it's going to happen then use your common sense and- and don't look at me!" Sun choked the words, and whether it was a byproduct of being in the Ultra Deep Sea or him trying to resist Aether Sun's pull was unclear. "Mother, you know how- you..." he smacked himself in the face with his palm three times quickly, not feeling the pain until five seconds later. "Let's find Lillie before one of me gets us killed."

Lusamine sighed. "Arceus, Sun, this is insane..." she had her Poké Balls on a gold cord hanging from her waist, and ran one finger over them for reassurance. "But... for Lillie." Her eyes caught one surviving shard writhing pathetically, and she put the sole of her heel over it and crushed it. The glassy shell cracked like it was nothing more than thin ice.

"Now, you guys, can you find Lillie?" Sun said to the Silvally. Gladion's took the lead, the only one that hadn't acquired a second type thus far, and they followed through Ultra Space.

* * *

 _I am_

 _I_  
Lillie was less than  
Had nothing left. _Nearly_  
 _crystals,_ almost having consumed  
consciousness still intact  
where am I  
going, _sliding into_  
 _blue_

Lillie became aware again. She could only hang onto lucid thoughts for a few seconds at a time, but she closed her fists over those seconds with certainty and determination, desperate to cling to her identity.

Lillie knew she was dead. There weren't enough parts of her left to go on living if she somehow escaped Nihilego's grip. She prayed in her head every time she could think to, praying for Sun to forgive her, for Gladion to forgive her when they met again... but that might not be for a while, knowing that she was only being allowed to think by Nihilego, not truly doing it herself.

It was sustaining her. It didn't want her to die anytime soon, and indeed if it wasn't for Nihilego she'd already be long gone.

Arceus, she could feel it... feel it picking and nibbling and swallowing as it explored her. She couldn't see at all anymore, her newfound world one of darkness, one where all she could anticipate was her own death. Feelers were wrapped over her neck downwards, with only small spaces for where the tendrils continued to feed. It was protecting her from other Nihilego that might seek to take its meal.

 _'Sun, I'm sorry. Gladion, I'm sorry. Hau, I'm sorry.'  
_  
Those three repetitive thoughts cost her a lot of the time she had been allowed to think. With the last few seconds she was given, she thought about how she had been determined to not be like her mother.

It hadn't worked out so well.

She couldn't even despise Nihilego. It was a creature bound to its nature. A thought had never crossed it's nonexistent mind - it was so utterly unknowable in its being that trying to comprehend it outside of an unthinking, unfeeling mass was futile.

And she was becoming a part of that beautiful, hungry machine. It was beautiful indeed, this fusion of  
indeed  
 _in_  
 _I  
_

* * *

This place was enchanting. Above, the echoes of the shifting sea created a chorus of quiet sea sounds that carried down to the stone below. Paying attention revealed shimmering lights projected onto the ground below Sun and Lusamine's feet. These lights in turn had a coloured cast from the nearest gems, of which there were a glorious rainbow variety. Taking just one of these strange crystalline structures would mean riches beyond compare.

It was not even an unfriendly place. The few Nihilego they encountered drifted by without threatening them directly. There were patterns of colour in the stone that were inviting even by human logic, without any strong reds or yellows, no warning colours.

"Sun, are you sure that they're guiding us?" Lusamine asked. They'd been following for only seven minutes, but every second put them further on edge and let more of the odd gas into their lungs.

"Yeah, they know where they're going," Sun replied, watching the three Silvally in front of him pace across the alien terrain. One tilted its head toward him, and Sun nodded. The chimera huffed and stamped one front foot down without much real force in the way that they had shown they could earlier. "I think... I think they..."

The forest of beauty and colour opened into a clearing. Almost a whole half of the space was taken up by a mass of Nihilego shards. This one was huge, unbelievably large - some tendrils spreading across the floor metres in length. There were several bells, pulsating gradually with the Ultra Deep Sea's tides, breathing, speaking.

It boasted such a large collection of swaying glass spires, like coral in the sea, like streamers, ribbons fluttering in dead air. Glittering spider webs.

And in the centre of it all, laid back like a dentist's chair... Lillie. Very little of her was visible outside of her exposed face, her left hand hanging loosely outside of a bundle of shards, more growing out of her fingertips. One ankle, similarly bursting into new life, if it could be called that.

"Sun, stay back." Lusamine crossed her arm in front of him, stepping out to protect him from the malevolent force of nature that Nihilego was. "L-Lillie?" Lusamine knew. How could she not know that her daughter was as dead as her son? The thing was feasting voraciously, precisely, with sharp needle teeth. The thing was sickening, and Lusamine felt every ounce of the horror the creature presented.

"M-Miss Lusa-Lusamine..." Sun sounded sick. He was pale. "Miss... miss Lusamine, she's..." Lusamine heard him gag, but her eyes were glued to the morbid spectacle of her daughter's consumption. Lillie was like this because of her. Her beautiful daughter, trapped in this place, having been eaten gradually while they had been trying to find the way to her...

"This is my... _my fault_... I have to..." Lusamine stepped closer to the mass, and it finally seemed to notice the new arrivals. Tendrils began to reach out toward them.

"Miss Lusamine..."

"I deserve this..." One of the white feelers touched the tip of her heel and began to wrap over it.

"Miss Lusamine, you can't-"

"It's my fault..." Another tentacle reached up to her waist.

"Mother, you can't-"

"...mother?" She looked over her shoulder at Sun. Something about his look shocked some small amount of sense back into her. She tried to pull away from the creature.  
Clusters of tentacles raised from where they had lazily rested on the ground and moved with real, sinister intellect now, looking to seize her in the same manner they had her daughter. "SUN-"

"FIRE!"

Heat rushed through the stale air, breathing new life into the musk with oranges, yellows, the vibrancy of a cleansing flame purifying the choking miasma. Curved and flowing flames licked all over the surroundings as the three Silvally combined their powers to unleash a transformative, liquid wall of gushing and pouring flame. It consumed the shards that had done so much consuming themselves in a glorious karmic cycle, incinerating every drop of venom that each cooked, burst shard yielded. Mottled colours clashed with the Ultra Beast, pouring the light of a new dawn not just onto but into it, forcing it, pushing against it and lighting it.

The wall of flame reached its peak as it approached where Nihilego had planted itself into the ground to operate on Lillie. Like a wave, it washed over the abominable fusion of Ultra Beast and human, ripping the two apart in a

* * *

 _h_

 _hot_  
yes.

Nihilego withdrew from her mind, leaving Lillie an exact second to know that she was free.

She could feel the fire rising. It was here to save her. Whatever was casting it did so in mercy, and she thanked it. She could see again, her eyes no longer feeling swollen and painful, and behind the wall of fire, between the swirls and curls of licking rage, was Sun.

Lillie couldn't smile, but she tried very hard.

Then the wave took her away, to a better place.

 _free.  
_

* * *

The Nihilego disintegrated, losing a majority of its mass in the inferno. Lusamine was untouched - the Silvally had pushed the fire around her, controlling the beams of flame as they coursed into the Ultra Beast with incredible precision. The wiring of the new RKS system began to fade from the red that it had taken on during the attack.

"Oh- Arceus, S-Sun..."

He'd destroyed her daughter and her son, but she'd never given him a choice. It wasn't his fault. "Sun, Lillie... I'm sorry you had to-"

"If it were me, I wouldn't want to go on like that," Sun interrupted. "Would you?" Even though his words were choice and pointed, he didn't seem to be choosing them with any real care as he thanked the three Silvally, stroking their manes. "Thank you all," he said. His voice shook somewhat, but his mental capacity seemed incredibly strong.

"But... she's... she's gone..." Lusamine said to herself, watching one surviving strand of shards limp pathetically away from the blast zone. "Sun, my daughter..."

"Miss Lusamine, let's get back home," Sun said. "There's nothing else for us here."

"B-but my daughter... my son..." Lusamine felt confused, like something unidentifiable had passed by her at a speed faster than light, knocking her over into the dirt. Wasn't there supposed to be... closure? She wanted to speak to her daughter again, but Sun had- had incinerated her, Sun, that-

A slight tinkling, like a wind chime. Lusamine looked up to the source.

Another Nihilego had descended from above to latch onto her head, attracted by the sound, the light, the noise. "Su-"

The white tendrils formed a shifting cage of slithering, slick limbs that entangled her in moments, pulling her upwards into the bell of the Ultra Beast. Cold slime greeted her inside, a thick, strange mixture that was not venom but instead a kind of amniotic fluid that would sustain her without oxygen. As this concoction suffocated her, the curtain of blonde hair she had so carefully tamed floated in the mixture, turned black as oil, as the void of space. Her arms ceased to struggle as numerous vines of Nihilego shards coated them like gloves, and more and more invaded her, one locking over her spine, interfacing with her central nervous system.

She had the symbiosis she always wanted now. Nihilego had taken on a new form to incubate her now that it had recognised her love for it and seen the threat Sun posed to them both. Sun had killed her family. Sun wasn't her son. Sun was a demon, an evil, punishing force she'd invited into her home in a moment of insanity.

Lusamine wondered if these were her true thoughts. They couldn't be. She loved Sun. She-

She felt something. Nihilego was _afraid_ of Sun. It had fused with her not because of any love, but purely for self preservation. Lusamine would not fight him. She wouldn't let herself hurt him again.

"Miss Lusamine!"

She couldn't hear his voice. Her ears were filled with that strange fluid, and it was deafening her. _'I promised him I wouldn't hurt him. You can't make me.'  
_  
Like machinery, the needles in her spine clicked deeper, exerting more control. Lusamine's fingers twitched from within their ensnared cords of Nihilego tentacles. _'I told you, you can't make- make-'_ The pain of a whip scarred her entire being, and she became a puppet.

"Miss- Miss Lusamine-" Sun felt the battery in his pocket. He could escape now and leave her behind to share the same fate as Lillie, this time with nobody coming to rescue her or free her from that hellish situation. Suffering for what she'd done to him, for thousands of years, in a alien place, with the thing that she'd always wanted to be with...  
His fingers closed over the battery.

She'd ruined him, made him into a cute little pet that would do her bidding whenever she asked, taken away his identity and created this whole new side to him. Here was his opportunity for revenge at last. It wouldn't be directly killing her. Every time he'd had the chance to - the mirror shard, the knife, he hadn't killed her. This wasn't the same. He could do this. Surely he could.

Sun was ready to do it. Leave her. Take the Silvally home with him and look after them while rebuilding his life. The surface of the battery was smooth and cold, his fingers locked over it tight, ready to break it and return to the real world, and never think about the woman who'd adopted him again.

And he couldn't. Sun wasn't the type of person. Weakness, some might call it, but Sun ultimately had never wanted to hurt anyone. He was gentle, he was kind. This created problems like the one in front of him - even though he could somewhat justify the action, he still could not perform it. Nobody would know. He would never have to tell a soul. But he still couldn't do something like that, something so... ugly, so nasty, so wrong.

"Silvally, be careful- but use-"

The Nihilego-Lusamine fusion lurched forward with an ominous bubbling noise. It reached out with arms - not just tendrils but arms, with digits, and horrifying bloodshot eyeballs that Nihilego had created to 'see' Sun before attacking him using its new conjoined form. It was evolving, trying to eliminate the threat, and taking on a new shape and borrowing new strength to do so. Primordial power and intellect propelled the Ultra Beast, and this was how it had survived so long. Adaptation.

"-Psychic Memory!" The three glowed a muted pink as the new RKS System manifested Steel and Psychic types simultaneously. Since entering Ultra Space Sun hadm't commanded them to change their primary type from Steel, so the three could not be infected.

The three Silvally tried to pull the Nihilego apart with the manifested psychic powers but the creature was too strong against their newfound telekinesis, holding each individual shard together with an angry denial. Nihilego forced Lusamine to extend one of the clawed limbs and swipe, making the Silvally team leap backward to avoid the violent swing.

Lusamine's legs hung in midair, suspended by Nihilego. Anger without source was ripping her sensibility to shreds, and she was feeling a familiar lust for things that no being should ever have. Sun did not deserve to attempt to fight a goddess as perfect as herself, as Nihilego. One of the black, bloated arms that she shared with Nihilego went to her waist, and gripped one of the Poké Balls attached there.

The fight was joined.

* * *

Sparks flew and joined with droplets in the air, electrifying and vaporising in a burst of elemental energy. The battle had shattered this area of Ultra Space's serene beauty and left it a scarred and blasted crater, marked by scorch trails, shattered stones and gems, ruined natural forms that once stood strange and proud.

Sun had fought with a determined vigor, but with Nihilego's influence Lusamine had fought harder - she had thrown herself into the battle as if she was a Pokémon, and she may as well have been, given her fusion with Nihilego. It was by her hand that the first of Sun's defenders had fallen. She'd reached out with clawed fingers and torn through the cables attached to one of the Silvally, then pinned it beneath the arm and pounded it into the ground, knocking it out cold with unbelievable viciousness.

Sun had cried out in shock and sympathy. That moment of weakness earned him one of the sharper limbs Nihilego had formed whizzing dangerously close to his head. He only lived still because he had dropped into a roll and snuck beneath her swing, then called another of those feral attack dogs to try and sever her arm.

Her team was reduced to her Milotic. She'd sensed hesitation from her beloved Pokémon, but they followed her orders after some... encouragement nonetheless, and had fought well. They'd finished another of Sun's cohort, her Bewear lifting the chimera over its head and breaking the armour on the creature apart - and probably shattering the failed experiment's spine, too, the synthetic creature yelping in agony as it fell to the stone ground.

So now Sun was down to one last silver ally. There had been fire, water, electricity, darkness, magic... every colour under the human sun on the other side of what was real had been projected into Ultra Space for the passive observation of its denizens. Every type had played its part, and once the dust on the clashing attacks had settled, the Silvally, still glowing yellow, had vanquished Lusamine's Milotic.

Lusamine herself paused. Nihilego paused. It... Sun had defeated all of those other combatants. Nihilego was reconsidering its options. If it could destroy the last of those machine-beasts that accompanied him, he'd be near helpless.

 _'Kill.'  
_  
Lusamine bolted forward, Sun taking a step back. "Silvally, use-"

She grabbed the damnable creature as it leapt and lifted it over her own head as her Bewear had before her, angry popping noises slaughtering her sanity. Wrapping her clawed digits over each limb, she got a firm hold on both its forelegs and its hind legs and pulled.

Sickening noises rang through the stale air as the chimera's tendons, bones and muscles were simultaneously stretched to breaking point, even with the increased density from the Steel type. Sun screamed. "FIRE!"

The Silvally, with a energy provided by nothing more than a furious denial, glared at Lusamine through piercing yellow eyes that in less than half a second burned red as it changed Type. Silvally inhaled, and Lusamine recognised this one in particular, the battle scratches and weathering, as her son Gladion's partner. And she hesitated.

The Silvally unleashed a beam of fire into the bell of Nihilego, and the dome incubating her burst. She shared the pain with Nihilego. It had to repair that painful gash to keep her safe, and shards cascaded over the form of the Beast to seal up the jagged ravine, which was spurting with the foul fluid.

While Nihilego worked in defence, to repair, Lusamine worked in offence. She slammed the Silvally against the nearest stack of gemstones that had remained standing. It collapsed in a shower of colour around Silvally and buried it in the pile.

And then, silence.

Sun looked up at Lusamine, trembling.

Lusamine looked down at Sun. Unbeknownst to her, Nihilego was in a blind panic. Silvally had seared through the tendril that was sunk into her spine, and it no longer had any form of control, and no shards to divert unless it wanted to give up its offensive capability.

 _'Please... kill...'_ it suggested.

Lusamine came closer to Sun. Sun was a statue, arms bent at the elbows, reaching up slightly, ready to cross his arms over his face to block his head if she attacked. "D-don't hurt me... I know how it... how it feels, but p-please..."

Sudden movement made him screw his eyes shut in fear. He felt something grip his arms and lift him up. Sickness filled his being as he predicted soon he'd be ripped in two as Silvally almost had before him. "N-no-" he managed to open his eyes a peep and saw Lusamine smiling down at him, and even in this situation, he felt some of that programmed love.

Lusamine would never hurt him. No. Of course not. Nihilego couldn't make her, and she'd show it. Sun hadn't smiled back at her yet, which worried her. Had she done something wrong?

Sun was passed among the tendrils almost lovingly, turned upside down and gently pushed back the right way around, stroked by the large, hand-like protrusions from the frontal tentacle type. He kept his eyes locked to Lusamine's as she passed him back and forth, in a rapturous daze of her own.

"What are you going to do to me?"

Lusamine hadn't heard him speak at all since fusing with Nihilego. One of the tentacles slid up the back of his shirt and kept him held up by it while the others rearranged themselves, having nearly become entangled in their calm investigation of Sun.

"We need to get out of here, miss Lusamine."

She raised one of the enormous plungers to his face and Sun gritted his teeth, leaning as far away as he could from the implement. The danger it posed was not to be taken lightly - it looked like the barb alone could kill him easily, forget about the payload of venom. The threat seemed to be idle, as she lowered the needle shortly after.  
"Miss Lusamine, we need to go, please, put me down-"

She drew him closer and pushed him into the 'face' of the bell of the Nihilego she occupied. The creature folded like a water balloon around him, the shards comprising Nihilego's form so numerous that it felt like a flat surface. Sun realised Lusamine was hugging him and tried as best he could to return the gesture to avoid angering her. Even though he was only touching Nihilego, Lusamine seemed to respond to the cuddle, stroking Sun's back with the tendril suspending him.

"M-mother... we have to..."

At him calling her mother she pulled him away sadly, holding him out and the maximum extent of her tendril. Now the sharp needle point returned in Sun's peripheral vision.  
"Don't do it. Don't inject me. Please."

A tentacle with the fingerlike shapes reached out and stroked his face, Sun desperate to escape now, trying to make her see sense even though she was not lucid. Lusamine lowered him below the bell and pushed him against her exposed waist - amniotic fluid from the bell above weeped from small gaps in the membrane connecting Lusamine to Nihilego, rolling down onto Sun's face. It felt almost too much like liquid - it ran so fast down his face and was so slick that the sensation was quite unlike any other he had experienced.

He felt safe against her, even with the monster she was connected to looming above. "N-no..." Sun begged her. Lusamine looked down with pity and her tendrils began to encase him.

While Lusamine had been poking at Sun in her new body, Nihilego had been busy diverting as many shards as possible toward repairing the link between them. It made its surface weaker and reduced its reach, but as long as it could control her into killing the boy, all would be well.

Sun wriggled and shook and squirmed but was gradually wrapped from his ankles to his shoulders in thick, black bands of Nihilego's body. "P-please let me go... I don't want to... I don't..." Lusamine began to squeeze.

Sun gritted his teeth and shut his eyes. Soon his ribs would break and impale his organs, lacerating his innards and leaving him in agony for the brief moments before he became a husk. "Miss Lusamine, stop!"

The President of the Aether Foundation saw Sun's mouth move. She didn't hear what he said, her senses muffled and muddled by the amniotic fluid she was suspended in. His eyes, wide and pleading, met hers. Nihilego drew back a needle to ram through his neck, flay the flesh from his body and push past his larynx. Strip him of the voice he used to call out to her, words that told her the oft-repeated lie that she was his family, words that were empty and useless; strip him of the air he needed to breathe to demand existence; strip him of the life that beat within his heart.

 _'I will not let you hurt him.'  
_  
 ** _'Then I will not let you resist.'  
_**  
The glassy prong rose, and it rose and rose to a point high above, where Sun could see it aim back down toward him. Where Sun could see it move faster than anything could move, anything ever had moved, straight toward him.

Blood sprayed in a violent geyser.


	40. PROTECTED

Lusamine had shifted the barb downward at the last moment, overpowering Nihilego to drive the point elsewhere, saving Sun from death. The point sunk directly through the cocoon of leviathan tentacles that Sun was trapped within. It smashed aside the shards and punched through venom sacs, bursting them and spraying Nihilego's closest equivalent to blood everywhere, droplets of viscera hanging in the odd physics of Ultra Space.

The Ultra Beast reeled, trying to comprehend what had happened, analyzing the movements it had made. The host had exploited the control it had over the Beast, and had damaged it heavily, too much for it to self-repair this combat form. Why had the host resisted? It was trying to help the host become one with it.

Lusamine using Nihilego to stab itself had broken enough of its grip to let Sun escape, and he slipped out of the embrace and onto the ground, landing with a huff. He did a brief stretch to accustom himself with his own body once again now that he was no longer being coiled over by Nihilego. Lusamine smiled down on him, still addled mentally by the fusion, but not enough to lose her focus. _'I won't hurt him.'  
_  
Nihilego grew frustrated with its host. This creature was using it, making it harm itself. Their symbiosis was useless. Cancel it. Nihilego had to change its priority from defence to devouring, and eat them both. It already had Lusamine in its grasp, and it could make the boy try to save her by digesting her first. The plan was malleable, like itself - it could take many shapes and eat whichever. The nature of this prey demanded one would help the other.

On this decision, Nihilego deconstructed its combat form. It dropped down and released the woman, draining all of the fluids back into the shards to purify and turn into infectious venom once again. The shards reconfigured in a cascade of tinkling and chiming, casting rainbow light through prismatic shapes, and it became the clean white it was before fusing with Lusamine. Then, Nihilego hung back. The creature made itself inoffensive. It shrunk significantly, lengthening its tendrils and reducing the mass of its bell. It swept away from the two, preparing to attack again when they did not expect it. They had no protectors. It could consume the Pokémon once it had eaten the two humans - if it could think, it'd hope that the three chimera machines were tasty, worth all the trouble they had given it.

Lusamine, upon separating from the Nihilego, collapsed. The fusion had drained her of all her energy. Her now-black hair spread out in a fan around her as she fell, seemingly in slow-motion. Her arms were reaching out into the air to hold onto something that was not there, to support herself against the force of gravity. With a resounding smack, she struck the rock beneath her, the crystal she used to keep her hair together chipping and digging into her back painfully.

"Miss- mother!" Sun rushed over to her side. "Mother, are you..." his concern was so beautiful. His eyes, the little shake of his lip, the raised eyebrows, the swept and unkempt hair... Lusamine had to apologize to him. For everything.

"Sun... I'm sorry I ever made you ugly." She reached up with a trembling hand and tapped him on the nose. Sun caught her wrist before it dropped to the ground and Lusamine focused on the warmth of his skin. "S-Sun..." she had to concentrate. She hadn't been infected, merely drowned in that strange amniotic fluid, but that was enough to make her lose her sensibility.

Sun was watching the Nihilego. It was still close by, but was gripping its bell with its two frontal tentacles, pulling the 'hat' down to hide away from the humans. "Mother, we have to get away." Sun was not going to take his eyes off of the thing until he was sure it was not a threat.

"Mother? Why are you still calling me that?" Lusamine was plainly confused. The danger of this place was out of her mind, Lillie's death was out of her mind, her fusion with the creature seconds ago was but a distant memory. Her brow was furrowed in uncertainty, and her eyes seemed cloudy, lacking in their usual bladed sharpness.

Something about her words stirred pity in Sun, and he wanted to help her like he'd wanted to help everyone else on his journey. Whenever he'd noticed someone in need, he'd help them... but Lusamine... she was crazy. She'd hurt him and abused him and used him and yet still he wanted to understand her and forgive her. Her children were dead and her position was in jeopardy.

He shouldn't feel like he owed her anything, but he did. It sickened him being unable to tell if it was his will or Aether Sun's will that pushed him to forgive her.  
"He-" Sun began, but knew that Aether Sun had nothing to do with it. Nihilego still hadn't moved.

"No... why are _you_ calling me that?" Lusamine had known too. Sun didn't meet her eyes, watching the Ultra Beast.

Sun crouched beside her. "Miss-miss Lusamine... we should go."

Lusamine was watching Sun's face, paying attention. "Will you stay with me?"

"Miss Lusamine, we should go now. We can-" Sun realized he now was looking into her eyes. Something about her proposition had drawn his attention in a way that her normal manipulation hadn't. "I... I..." He couldn't answer her right now. He had to clear his head, had to- wait- he wasn't looking at Nihilego.

The Beast struck. It slid a tendril down Sun's back and immediately injected him with that familiar black fluid. Sun felt it happen and was powerless to stop it. "Gn- Agh-"

Nihilego launched itself with predatory force over him, pinning him to the ground and flowing over him easy as water, dense as a blanket. Sun's muffled screams were enough to shock Lusamine from her temporary paralysis. She found a purpose again, one desperate need, to save Sun. She was not going to lose him too, no way. She put too much effort into him, was too dependent on him, loved him too much to see him eaten after all they had seen and done. He was all she had left now.

"Sun-" Lusamine sat up, trying to grapple with Nihilego and pull it away. The Ultra Beast was too strong for her to break the grip of, and it knocked her away with a spare tendril. It wanted to lock down Sun properly before it began to consume Lusamine alongside him. "SUN, NO!" She watched from her prone state on the ground, mesmerized with a corrupt curiosity as it pushed against him, concealing his body in a web of limbs.

"HELP ME-" Sun managed before Nihilego gagged him. The sheer, impossible fear that consumed his being made him sob with the knowledge he'd be picked apart and become a breeding ground in the same way Lillie had been. Lusamine got back up, breaking the spell that the morbid spectacle cast over herself and rushing back to his aid.

Nihilego was creeping beneath his shirt and up his trousers, splitting the material to access his skin with the least resistance possible. It was forcing more venom into him and he could feel the buoyant ecstasy rising above the fear, and that made him ever more scared. He didn't want to love it, didn't want to be with it...

 _'Come closer, Sun. Come to my maw.'  
_  
"NO!" Choking against the gag, he still vocalised his denial. "NO, NO, NO, HELP- GN-" Nihilego grew tighter in thick constricting bands and finished pulling apart his shirt, pushing needles into his wrists and heart. Venom flowed easy as water, and Sun was sinking into it. "UGH- AGH-ugh- oh..."

Oh, it felt _good._ It was beginning to feel _great.  
_  
"SUN!" Lusamine threw herself at the mass again. Not Sun too. Not Sun too.

Nihilego's plan was a success. It folded into two and briefly stopped its efforts centred around Sun. Now half of the shards worked on encasing Lusamine too, forming into a flat surface of knives on the ground with two struggling figures wrapped against it, pulling them both into the same web. "NO!" Lusamine screamed in denial, horrified that this was how it was going to end. Just like she had wanted it to when the insanity begun, when she was seeking the Ultra Beast out. "N-no- Sun-" Lusamine was pulled down against the body of the shards by small tendrils that grew once she was prone, became longer to wrap over her and hold her in place. "Sun-" her flailing hand found his as she struggled, and their fingers locked together. "Sun, I'm sorry..."

Nihilego closed over them like a bear trap. Teeth and needles and syringes and spikes and knives and scalpels. It was rebuffed by the sapphire crystal on her chest but crept over her legs and arms with ease. She could hear Sun's screams becoming ecstatic laughter.

 _'This is what you wished for.'  
_  
"Not... like... this..."

Sun's intense throat-shredding cackling was deafening. It was already pressing down on him like an iron, venom filling his mind and soul while the shards were still getting a strong hold on Lusamine. "Let him go..." Nihilego didn't respond to her request in any way. "Let him- let him go..." If she could convince it somehow to release him and take her, it'd be fine...

The cords of shards entangling her being grew tighter, tearing through her leggings and shredding her dress with impunity. The flat edges of blades Nihilego formed stroked her exposed thighs. "Let. Him-" It tightened like a noose over her neck, making her fall silent. This was it then. How they died.

Lusamine heard an echoing sound, like pebbles cascading. Trying to place the sound was difficult, but she'd heard it before somewhere, seen the source, known the source...  
Needles found her skin and she saw the black fluid bubbling malevolently. "No..." she choked over the tightening of her noose. "Let him go..."

A roar, with a metallic chirp. Sharp, honed talons rent apart her prison, slicing through the glassy matter and scattering it to Ultra Space's four winds, if Ultra Space knew such a concept. Lusamine scrambled to get away from Nihilego, but the Beast had already given up on her, bringing all its shards back to one place. It was reforming into the standard shape reminiscent of aquatic Pokémon like Frillish or Tentacruel... and it was clinging to Sun.

It had tentacles wrapped over his arms and was dragging him along, trying to lift him up and carry him away from her. Sun was enraptured by Nihilego in an apparent parody of herself, cooing at it as the tentacles locked tighter, gripping his ankles, his thighs, his shoulders, his wrists. His smiling face was the last she saw of him before Nihilego covered him entirely in a quivering curtain. It was trying to plug into him in the same way that the Nihilego before had plugged into Lillie, but couldn't do it without time and delicate effort.

"LET HIM GO!" Lusamine didn't even take the time to recognise her saviour. She ignored the shape it took, the proud and strong creature she had helped design. "LET HIM-" the chimera, tired of being ignored, pushed her aside.

Gladion's Silvally, limping and heavily damaged though it was, struggled forward as the Nihilego tried to lift Sun away. One dark hand stuck out of the wriggling white mass. Lusamine recalled what Sun had done to damage it so severely back at the Paradise.

 _"Use Gyro Ball!"  
_  
 _The Ultra Beast exploded into its component shards as the Steel-type move made contact, ripping through the individually light shards of the creature's body with ease.  
_  
"Silvally, Steel!"

Silvally hated Lusamine, but it would protect Sun. It was a smart creature, a noble one, and would do what it had to do to protect the boy who had for a time been friends, been allies at arms with his master. So the mane lit up silver, and its eyes turned a dark grey. The plume atop its head shimmered with steel, and similar steel was seen in its stance and the strength it impressed onto its surroundings. Even in this alien place, it was an apex predator.

The Pokémon launched itself forward and bit into the Ultra Beast, rending and hacking it apart with its curved talons of metal. With a measured ferocity it attacked while keeping Sun safe, picking the points to attack with a laser guided precision. Even though Silvally was weakened, the Ultra Beast was no match for the upgraded Beast Killer, and its desperate attempts to haul Sun away were in vain. He fell in a heap as Nihilego shattered around him, Lusamine rushing to the aid of her adopted son. Silvally fell to the ground and smashed the remaining clumps of shards before coming to rest, lying on its flank and breathing heavily.

"Sun! Sun, look at me, please, tell me-"

Sun laughed breathlessly.

His gold eyes burned through her. The venom was in effect. Not only had this woman just destroyed the god Nihilego, but she was the one to change his face, his memory, his past. Sun felt only one need, one absolute requirement to keep on living, one objective to continue his existence.

Kill her.

He took the sharp remnants of broken Nihilego fragments and dashed upwards, slashing violently. Lusamine took a step back to avoid the attack, while Silvally looked on in confusion.

"S-Silvally- stop him-" Lusamine commanded as Sun stabbed toward her. She leapt aside to avoid it, teetering as she landed. Silvally moved forward at her command but hesitated to act. It was on Sun's side, not hers, but the boy was acting strangely.

"I couldn't kill you then- I can kill you n-now, because it's helping me do what I - I had to do the moment you t-took me. I have to kill you. For what you did," Sun spat, "But he... he's weak, he wouldn't let me hurt you, he..." Silvally made a curious noise in Sun's direction and Sun paused for a brief moment, preparing to lay curses on the chimera for smashing Nihilego apart.

Lusamine saw his distraction and moved toward him, tackling him to the ground. She disarmed him, scrabbling at his hands to remove the glassy matter from his hold, and then moved him into a firm but comfortable hug, holding his head against her shoulder. Sun felt his rage melting away.

"NO! NOT THIS- NOT THIS TIME... THIS-" Sun's denial was getting him nowhere. Aether Sun was warming up inside him, fighting down the hate of the venom with an equally intense love. "I HATE YOU! DON'T- _I HATE YOU!_ I WILL NEVER BE YOUR- YOUR- AGH-"

"Sun, it's the venom, you can beat it-" even through her hug Sun managed to put one arm up and close his hand over her delicate throat. "Gn- Sun, listen..."

"YOU HURT ME! YOU TOOK ME TO THIS PLACE, YOU SPLIT ME INTO TWO! I HATE YOU!"

She felt something real about his anger, something that meant Nihilego only had a hand in bringing this out, and was not generating it. If Nihilego was not involved then Aether Sun would always hold this resentment back, keep him in check. But with the black venom flowing through his veins and the darker thoughts clogging his head, that free-flowing rage came to a head at last and he vented everything he despised about her. "YOU SELFISH- YOU VILE- YOU- you..." Sun choked on his words and immediately following burst into tears. "NO! STOP IT- STOP IT! STOP!" Her face, her voice... the drug she was... it was overpowering the venom.

His fingers were tightening and slipping in alternation, his head dropping down from judging her to staring at the stone beneath them desperately. "GR- YOU- YOU... YOU RUINED ME! AGH-" Sun fell toward her, his eyes rolling up. Lusamine caught him against herself.

"Baby, I've got you. It's going to be okay."

Sun dribbled a rivulet of black. This was too familiar, but it'd be the last time Nihilego would ever touch her family. Silvally whined and fell back onto its side, groaning. "T-thank you," Lusamine offered it, and it made a dismissive crowing noise, waving a talon dismissively like, 'it was nothing.'

Sun's shirt was shredded to pieces, blood from the injections running off his chest. His trousers were hanging together by threads, but were still in one piece. The blood ran onto Lusamine's arms but his wounds were not life threatening. Lusamine's dress was similarly tattered, but was still barely intact itself, preserving enough of her dignity. Parts of her leggings were torn through, and she was bleeding from entry wounds too. She removed the ragged remains of the blue and white-striped shirt and considered tossing them away. Reconsidering, she balled up the ribbons of material. He may want it still, as it was all that was left from before she had done those horrible things to him.

"Oh... Sun..." Ultra Space was quiet. The other Nihilego knew by now to not come to this place for the time being, given the level of disturbance they'd felt passed through the waves of the Ultra Deep Sea. "We're going home." She could feel where the needles had dived into her in little stings in her flesh. Lusamine let him go and the weakness she had felt reemerged, having been smothered by adrenaline while fighting Sun down. Taking long, steady breaths, she lay Sun down in the recovery position against a cracked gemstone.

She found the battery in his pocket, by a sheer act of Arceus not breached, and returned her Pokémon one by one. There was however the problem of the two fallen Silvally. She glanced back at Sun. He hadn't brought the Poké Balls for the three, and she knew he'd never forgive her if she left them here.

"I know... I know it's a lot to ask, but can... can you carry the other two on your back?" Lusamine couldn't help but feel that speaking to Silvally was pointless. The creature couldn't understand her. No way.

Silvally groaned and huffed at the ground, pawing nervously. Lusamine interpreted the action with some guesswork. "It'll be difficult?"

Silvally huffed again and nodded. It changed types to Fighting and Steel, not bothering to await a command. Silvally's now increased muscular density and weight would help it carry both of its fallen clones.

Lusamine couldn't help but laugh at how simple the solution seemed, and Silvally gave a strange metallic rasping like a chuckle. Ultra Space above changed tides subtly, reminding them that this was a place where they had to be on their guard. They stopped their mirth simultaneously, checking their surroundings.

Lusamine looked over Sun for any deep cuts while Silvally loaded the clones onto its back, then lifted him into her arms with a heaving effort, bridal-carry style. The pathway back was simple enough, just retracing steps. Silvally was struggling but not too much to where it couldn't go on. Lusamine was constantly reassuring it while she kept her eyes open and attentively scanned the area around them for any sign of insidious Ultra Beast activity. She'd dealt with enough for one lifetime. The path remained clear however, and in a relatively short order they had reached the place where Sun had marked the return point with the cracks in the ground.

"Let's get out of here," Lusamine sighed, and tossed the battery of Ultra Space energy. It cracked apart and forged a portal of light that beckoned them back to the world they knew, to clean air and a golden sun, not the black perversion that burned far overhead. Silvally passed through first, still heaving its fallen brethren. Lusamine took one more moment to look around, seeing distant Nihilego, distant lights, distant gems... the place called to her, wanted her to stay.

She looked down at Sun in her arms.

"No. Not anymore."

As she was about to leave, she gave one last glance and noticed something else, something that wasn't a Nihilego. It was jet black, and had a faint glow to it. Gems shone inside its strangely-shaped body and it was glaring right at her with multicolored eyes. It felt like it was reading her mind. With a slow, deliberate movement, it raised one enormous, triangular hand with large, sharp-looking fingers, and pointed one at her. Lusamine felt a chill. This thing... whatever it was... knew something. It had taken something from her mind and perused it in a heartbeat. Lusamine tore herself away and stepped through the portal to the home she knew. She had a lot to comprehend and could feel so very many conflicting thoughts bubbling inside her, but now... things felt like they could fall into place.

She'd lost so much to Nihilego. To her obsessions, with the Ultra Beast and with Sun. Now she had nothing else to do but the right thing. Do right by Sun. And Lillie. And Gladion.

Just do the right thing. 

* * *

Sun woke up alone.

The venom was still in effect but not as strong and he was in his room, in the mansion. He sat up and yawned.

The last Silvally limped over to him, and Sun smiled the warmest smile, enough to make Silvally embarrassed. It huffed this way and that, trying to be modest. Sun struggled a little and managed to get out of bed and sit beside Silvally. The chimera slowly put its forehead against Sun's. "Yeah. We did it. And you... you did him proud."

Silvally crooned, lying down. "Oh..." Sun muttered. "Y-you're hurt..."

It shook its head in response. Sun smiled again. "Don't be silly. Did she take you to a healing machine?"

Silvally nodded now, bumping its head against him once more. It hung its tongue out and licked him. Sun grimaced, but that slight look of disgust was replaced quickly as he began to giggle. "Then where are the others?" It pawed at the ground nervously, leaving furrows in the white tiles. "Oh- careful- what's mother going to think?" Silvally, avoiding the question, rolled onto its back, much like a Rockruff or Growlithe. Sun giggled again. "Stop it, you're too big to be rolling around like that!" The chimera sat up, scratching its neck with its talons, now far more precise than it had been as Type: Null. Sun moved forward on all fours, noticing he was wearing another of those white-to-gold shirts and a new pair of trousers. He stopped in front of Silvally and gave it a big hug, and it licked his face again. "Thank you."

Sun noticed that it was a beautiful day, the golden light through the window shining onto his face, warm and relaxing. "Hey... let's go outside."

Silvally stood up properly again, and leaned down briefly for Sun. Sun put his arm over the synthetic Pokémon's back, Silvally supporting him as he took tentative, painful steps down the corridor and out to the back of the mansion. He'd never been there before, and he knew that he shouldn't take Silvally to the main complex. "So... what about the others? Are they... are they okay?" It nuzzled him as they moved, in a reassuring sense. Sun understood. They emerged out the back door onto the curved platform outside the mansion, and saw a glittering, shimmering pool.

Sun sat down outside the mansion, by the pool he'd never knew existed. He rolled up his trousers and put his bare feet in the water, sat up straight by the edge, the gentle lapping so very soothing. Beside him, Silvally lay down and snoozed away.

Alola was in the height of noon. Sun's breathing was perfectly steady and measured, his hands equidistant as they supported him. The heat was pleasant, like a warm blanket to protect him from the slight sea breeze that washed over the Paradise. Alola was a lush, gorgeous place.

Footsteps approached and Sun sighed to himself. He knew exactly who it would be. The feeling was so good, so comfy that he had wanted to bask in it a day, a week more. He was at peace. This was the opposite to how he'd felt when he arrived. Now he was calm, safe and relaxed. Sun knew what he was and where he belonged again, and it wasn't here; he had to go back to adventure, had to get away from this cold, clinical, flat place. He wanted to crunch snow under his feet and clamber rock, wanted to navigate lush forests and sit with the Pokémon. Sun wanted to trek through the vast Poni Canyon and explore all that he had missed on his island challenge.

Doing it alone was what stayed his feet. All his friends and rivals were lost, dead, gone forever. Some of it was his fault...

Lusamine sat beside him. His thoughts had distracted him from the sound of her approach. Sun couldn't help but notice she wasn't wearing her leggings as she sat down, her legs completely bare. Some of her skin was slightly discolored where she'd been jabbed by Nihilego, and Sun had noticed the same afflictions on his own body. Aether Sun mewled in his head, and he had half a mind to just let his other side take charge. Aether Sun would love to lean up against her and have her make a fuss over him. And there was nothing wrong with that, not right now.

Lusamine pulled off her heels and dipped her legs into the water beside him. She too sighed, but it was in relief. For a moment she didn't speak, then she handed him something. It was an ice lolly.

"What flavour?" Sun asked. He could guess from the pinkish colour of the ice.

"Pecha," Lusamine replied. She didn't want to look him in the eyes. The gold was fading out of the blue, turning the irises green once again. It hurt her to see it.  
They shared a moment of understanding. Exactly why she'd picked that flavour, and she hadn't really tried to sneak it by Sun. He was a Trainer once. He knew.

Sun licked it. "It's very sweet."

"Oh, I'm- sorry, I didn't know you didn't-"

"I like it." He licked it again.

Lusamine shut her eyes and felt the push of the Alolan air on her face, ruffling through her black hair. _That_ had taken some explaining. "Come here."

Sun shifted to be closer, and leaned his head onto her shoulder. The unspoken trauma was muffled. They understood each other enough to share the pain. Sun lost his friends and Lusamine lost her children, and they felt like they shouldn't be left over. Survivor's guilt, and the guilt of those who had somehow set the events into motion. Lusamine heard Sun lick the lolly again. They stayed there until the sun set, until the last of its light vanished over the horizon. "Mother?"

"Yes, Sun?"

"What happens now?"


	41. Dichotomy

_I fucked you in half / I fucked you in half / I fucked you in half / I fucked you in half_

* * *

 **Part Three: Dichotomy**

* * *

The evening had turned to night.

Alola was all the more gorgeous in dusk. The lack of light pollution from the islands made visible the billions upon billions of galaxies and every individual star close enough to observe. Sun and Lusamine hadn't moved from the pool, and Silvally was snoozing away. The cold was coming in now, winter encroaching on Alola.

"Come on, Sun. Let's get indoors." She patted him on the shoulder, before clasping her hand down on it and shaking him back and forth, only a little but in an encouraging manner. He was cold. She looked over to him, brushing aside her hair to observe him with both her jade eyes.

He retched, as if he was going to be sick. The calm that Lusamine had briefly found vanished and was replaced by panic. "Sun?" She removed her legs from the pool and ignored the feeling of the water running off her bare skin, putting her hands on his shoulders properly now.

Sun grunted again, making another painful, throaty noise.

"What's hurting? Sun-" he took his legs out of the pool in a similar fashion and struggled to pull himself away on his elbows and knees, still gagging.

"Gnnn-" Sun choked. "No-"

Lusamine rushed after him. She crouched beside him, the panic escalating and becoming utter terror. "Sun, talk to me, talk to-"

"AGH-" Sun curled up, bringing his elbows to his knees and arching his back, hands at his head. "No, take me back, look me after, please," Lusamine noticed that he'd said the sentence wrong. She wanted to make him look at her, but didn't dare touch him. Silvally had been woken by his shouts and it looked over at them, confused. "Mother, I-" Sun coughed again. "Miss Lusamine- not- my-"

"Sun, calm down, talk to me, look at me-"

"-no, no, my- I'm hurt-" Sun continued to talk to some other presence. "No- NO!" He retched again, this time his mouth remaining open in sympathy, flecks of spit sticking to his lips. "They're talking to- to-"

"Sun, let me help you, talk to me-" what did he mean, they're talking to him? If he was hearing voices - who were 'they?'

"DON'T-"

Sun threw up. The fluid was tainted with the familiar black of Nihilego venom, and Lusamine flinched to see it. Even though she was nothing but sympathetic to Sun's condition, she still thought, _'more of this to clean up.'_ He was crying, but it was not a response to emotional stimuli: it was the result of his retching forcing his eyes wide and making blinking hard, and his body had responded by forcing him to cry.

Sun fell onto his side, coughing. "No, no- I didn't mean to." There was a conflicting sense of place in him. His _shoulder was hurting like he broke it_ , but he was _resting on his side staring into her eyes_. He had _passed out in the alien land and been pushed into this position_. All three timelines had converged accidentally in his head and had left it up to him to figure out which was the present, and after careful deliberation he decided none of them were.

When he'd spoke he'd sounded like he wasn't at all there in the moment. Lusamine knew this was an aspect of his personality, but hadn't expected it to manifest here where he was under stress - that was when he became more prone to emotion.

"Sun, look at me. Look at me." Lusamine shifted a little closer while still giving him some space of his own. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Wrong," Sun repeated. "I can- can hear..." he tried to sort out his speech pattern, knowing it had fallen off the rails somewhere, but not where. "Help."

Lusamine acted. She lifted him up, at first trying to get him to his feet then seeing just how shaky his stance was - knees trembling, mouth agape and drawing fast and irregular breath - before carrying him in her arms instead. Silvally followed along, curious as to what was wrong with its human friend.

"Sun, where does it hurt? It's not still in you, is it?" The fear of the suggestion was almost thrilling, the same lurch as a rollercoaster dive without any of the assured safety or preparation. The idea that Nihilego was still among them, creeping, crawling like a billion voracious locusts.

"Sng-" he offered in response, his eyes and his face blank. He had covered his ears, and his muscles were all tensed in terror. There was something so horribly wrong. Lusamine carried him to her room and lay him in her bed, pulling up the covers around him with haste, trying not to let panic take hold. She put a hand to his forehead to check for fever, but he was still cold. "No-" he exclaimed as she touched him, briefly finding clarity to rebuke her.

"You don't want me to touch you?" Sun shook his head, drawing the sheets up further, over his chin. "Okay, I won't- I'll-" she put her index and middle finger up to the bridge of her nose in a pointless attempt to remain calm. "Sun, explain what's hurting." She could see him shivering.

"I- I broke-" he stuttered. While he'd been sat out there under the dimming sky, the trauma had been working like a colony of parasites in his brain that dove into each heavily-damaged part and started inserting ulterior beliefs into his skull. He didn't recognise this as it was happening, didn't feel any of the changes to his mental state until he had to move and then it had struck him like a collapsing building, spitting up the dust of his singular mind and cracking it apart under a torrent of tormenting rubble.

Lusamine wanted so dearly to touch him again to try and reassure him but had to listen, had to try- her hand had already made up half the distance back to him before she withdrew it. "Sun- I'm going to- to clean up that mess you made, okay?"

Sun rolled onto his side and groaned loudly. Lusamine spoke a little louder. "Sun, don't worry about it, it'll be- what did you call- Silvally will be right here with you-"  
In Sun's head her words were not being comprehended correctly. He was misreading everything. "I- I didn't mean to make a mess," he apologised, having already forgotten throwing up and thinking she was talking about something more recent, nonexistent.

"No. No, Sun, it's not your fault-" Lusamine could feel creeping dread. The fractures, the cracks she'd put in him were finally becoming holes, chasms of character and pits where was once persona. "I'm going to go and take care of that quickly and I'll be right back, okay?"

"Mother-" he began, and time paused for them. Lusamine had begun to move away, but stopped mid-step and faced him again. Sun had one arm raised slightly toward her. As she met his eyes he stopped reaching out and lay back, pulling the sheets all the way over his body.

"Look after him," she told Silvally, and it huffed in acknowledgment. It paced to the bedside and made a inquisitive noise, and one dark hand poked out of the sheets and stroked it. The Silvally came closer, and Sun stuck his head out from under the sheets at a funny angle to see the chimera.

There was something more wrong with him now than there ever had been before. Ultra Space, maybe what he'd seen happen to Lillie, maybe Nihilego touching him for the last time and almost consuming him entirely, had hurt him.

* * *

The Aether Mansion was quiet in the night, but it was not the result of sleep silencing the occupants. Sun had expressed his will to not rest for fear of nightmares, and Lusamine had accepted his proposition. She felt the same. With the shock and the adrenaline dying down, the trauma of the day's events was beginning to make itself known in the form of an almost overwhelming paranoia, manifesting as basic fears - fears of the dark, of sudden noises.

The lights of her room were dimmed, she and Sun were sat up against the headboard with the curtains around the four-poster drawn. It was a little box where they were safe from the outside world for as long as they chose to be. This same scenario, this same instance had happened before, in a far more evil and sickening context, this being a lighter reflection of the now grim memory of what she had done to Sun upon him returning from Melemele island. The thought made her want to bang her head against a wall for being so stupid until she was nothing but a bloody mess.

Lusamine could sense what Sun was going through, but couldn't quite feel it herself. He had his knees drawn up to his chest and had his arms around them, hugging himself. Sometimes he'd cry briefly or sniffle or his breath would become more laboured; when these things happened Lusamine would rub his shoulder or hold him against her while she whispered that it wasn't his fault.

His personality was quite visibly fluctuating too - sometimes he'd shrug her off and enforce the 'no touching' rule when she tried to comfort him and at other times he'd push against her physically and try to hide in her waist or her shoulder or her neck, anywhere he could go that meant he was close to her. She invested all that she was into ensuring Sun's comfort, while ignoring the nagging at her own skull. Sun would have to go soon. She didn't want him to leave, not just because of her own selfish needs but also because Lusamine felt that if she let Sun go too soon he could hurt himself or fall into depression. He deserved to be happy. He did not do anything to justify this trauma.

She didn't mind either of his behaviors. He was not bitter, not twisted, he just seemed to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders and carry it so nobody else had to bear it. Right now he was in the dependent mode, clutching her waist and mewling while rubbing his head back and forth against her ribs, the little noises he made nonsensical outside of whatever he decided they meant.

Lusamine traced her hand over his back in little circles, and he responded with pushing further into her. "Mmm..."

"I'm going to help you, Sun, okay?" Even in the limited amount of time she had left, she had to fix all the hurt she'd put onto him. "We're going to get through this."

"Mother, please hug?" Sun's inability to say the full sentence made Lusamine feel a pang of terror on the level of when she had seen Lillie kidnapped by Nihilego or when Sun had boasted about killing Gladion. What if this meant he'd be like this- this- horribly damaged for life?

"Y-yes, Sun," she managed and pulled him into her arms. He didn't sigh in relief and he didn't say another word, he didn't even purr to himself. He pushed against a spot just above her stomach, driving his nose into the silky smooth black of her nightdress. He took a deep breath of her scent and let it fill his head. "Sweet child..." Lusamine murmured as he lay still against her.

His hand reached up and he idly stroked her hair. Digits trembling and wrapping over her carefully styled and sheeted segments. "Mother, what about your hair?" Sun asked, his voice muffled. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll have to dye it." Lusamine didn't particularly like the black that Nihilego had painted her carefully maintained locks. It was a tiny, insignificant issue compared to the many others but it was one that would affect her public appearance the most. She lifted a few strands between her fingers and let them fall with a tut.

"Why don't you just do what you did to me?" Sun asked. There was nothing accusatory about his tone, he was just speaking his idea. "Now you can borrow my hair colour..." He was right - he still had her exact hair colour from before the Nihilego incident.

"We could do a swap," Lusamine muttered with dry amusement. Sun giggled, then made a noise like a sigh as he relaxed into her again. Lusamine shifted around on the bed, sitting up further so that he could be more comfortable, now pushing the bridge of his nose into the crook of her arm.

"I'm still all your son?" She could only tell that it was a question from the way that his pitch rose with the end of the sentence. He'd spoken without looking up at her.  
"You're still my son if you want to be." She wanted to add, _'but you can't stay,'_ but thought it'd hurt him too much.

Lusamine thought about how malleable he was. Like clay in her hands. But he belonged to himself again now, and he needed to relearn that without her manipulating or poking him in any one direction.

"Can I touch you?" Sun asked.

"Yes, Sun."

His hand moved toward her at snails pace, as one might try to touch a feral Pokemon one was unfamiliar with. His fingers were shaking. His palm went onto her cheek in a similar fashion. "You're cold."

"More than you know," she replied dryly.

"Do you need my shirt?"

"No." Lusamine smiled. Sun's hand filtered through the black tangles of her hair again. It got stuck and he firmly tried to pull it through, making Lusamine wince. "-Ah-"

"-sorry," Sun said quickly and stopped pulling. He took another breath of her and sighed. "Kiss?" Lusamine winced. Sun, at least in that case, could've said the full request but hadn't been bothered enough to.

They couldn't do this. Wicke was enforcing that she had two days left with him at most. Lusamine hadn't told Wicke that Lillie was dead - the Vice-President didn't deserve to have her intelligence insulted. Wicke knew. Wicke had known, had probably knew the truth since Lusamine explained that Nihilego had stolen her daughter.

She didn't want to hurt Sun any further, violate him any more. Now she thought that he hadn't purposefully stayed when she'd left him untied. He'd been caught up in something, become distracted. This was not consensual. Lusamine had always fallen back on the fact that he'd stayed even when he was not mentally changed by the machine. It meant that at least some part of him was curious and desired her love, and now that Nihilego was completely out of the picture and all remnants of the venom were filtering out of her system, she saw that she had just been fooling herself.

So no. She wouldn't let him be any kind of intimate toward her, they were only lying together to be there for each other. This was the end of that chapter in her life. The psychotic and crazed woman who sought only to inflict suffering and agony for her own end had to die with the multiple Nihilego that they had exacted revenge on.  
"No, Sun." She stroked his hair and prepared for his response, his argument, his begging.

"Please, please..." Sun moaned. Lusamine knew what he was asking but she didn't waver, calmly combing his hair with her digits.

"No. My sweet child, we- it's not right. You know that. You know that we- it's not going to help you." Sun shifted downward, his head now against her stomach. He pulled the sheets and vanished under the duvet. "Honey, come back out of there," she admonished him, trying to keep him occupied enough so he didn't act up.

"It- I keep seeing- seeing- dark... like... shadows, running away from my eyes..." Sun mumbled. "I want to be in the dark so I can't see them running."

"You mean... you're seeing things moving that aren't there?" Lusamine asked.

"I... I guess..."

Lusamine chose to allow him to stay there. "Honey, please, tell me when you see these things-"

"-I didn't even notice-" Sun said, and his voice was cracking. "What's wrong with me...?"

"Oh, Sun..." she pulled the sheets higher up so that she was beneath them with him. "Come here..."

He crawled up beside her and mewled. Lusamine hugged him tight. "Mmm..." Sun sighed. "I- I um... can't- I don't want to go until I'm- I'm better." His bare foot made contact with her ankle and he moaned involuntarily. Even he recognised that it was wrong, and he commented on it. "Will I ever not love you?"

Lusamine chuckled, even though there was no humour to his question. "I don't think so. I'm sorry, Sun."

"That's okay."

What the fuck was she doing? Where the fuck was all this going? She couldn't keep him. Wicke was pushing, and while Lusamine was ready to argue she was too scared of the consequences of her actions to do so. If the police came to her and- and took him away-

She hugged him tighter and patted him on the back. "Do you- do you really forgive me?"

"No. I don't think so... but I have nothing else anymore. I keep changing my mind." He sighed. "Sometimes I think we're the same person. Or that I need to be just like you. Sometimes I- I remember that I'm me."

"Who are you now?" Lusamine wanted to understand, to make him better.

"I'm me. But a lot of me is you."

She couldn't discern anything from that - she moved down so they were closer, the gap between their faces in the dark measuring in inches. "You're saying that... that there are still parts of what I did left over in you?"

"No... I'm turning into you." He said it with fear, but exhilaration, excitement almost. "I- I changed everything about the way I act for you. And now that- that's gone over me. I'm covered up, you've replaced me."

That wasn't so difficult to parse. He had changed so much of himself, his mannerisms, his walk, even his speech pattern - the way he swept his hair, the way he was becoming as crazy as her. Lusamine ran a finger down his cheek.

"You need to go then. You need to stop me from- you need to stop yourself from turning into me." Lusamine's words made him break eye contact. "What?" she asked, questioning his sudden unwillingness to face her.

"If I let that- that bit of me, that bit that believes it all - if I let that bit go and take me over, then I'll be happy again." So he'd only be happy again if he lived the lie and was with her. That was what he thought, at least right now. She knew that was subject to change. Lusamine needed to hit something or scream or address the trap she was now a victim of. Wicke wanted rid of him. He wanted to stay, just as she had wished him to previously. She didn't know what was right and what was wrong. The only escape was... she didn't want to think about it.

"Sun, you're ill. Mentally."

"So are you."

He didn't get it. She was repulsed by her acts. Everything she'd done was wrong and there was nothing redeeming about it, nothing to say, _'oh, well, I'm still good because-'_ nothing of the sort. She was conflicted. Sun deserved care and attention and someone to look after him, but she knew it couldn't be her. He belonged to her, but he wasn't hers.

Lusamine had to throw up or punch something or scream or throw or fight or kick or hurt or shout or yell or do something... something that would undo it all. She wanted her son and her daughter, her _family_ back. She wanted to be good again for them, but no, Nihilego had killed them both.

Lusamine remembered the abuse, the horrific acts, the memories enough to make her whimper in cowardice and regret. Intertwined with all the ideas she'd had under the influence were truly good memories, dancing in the rain with Lillie, reading Gladion bedtime stories for the umpteenth time that night, hugging her husband who-

 ** _"AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"_** Lusamine had sat up and tossed the duvet aside, Sun scrambling to hide under it once again, leaping off the bed and ducking beneath it. "HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THIS? WHAT MADE ME DO IT? ALL THE FUCKING- ALL THE _TWISTED_ _SHIT_ I PUT YOU THROUGH, AND _WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR?!"_ She threw away whatever image of refined decency she thought she had and grabbed clumps of her hair, tugging at it in blind fury. "MY _CHILDREN_ ARE DEAD! MY- MY _HUSBAND_ \- MY- I'M-"  
The moment was burned into her mind like it was guided by a red dot pointer. Sun stood in her doorway, grin on his face.

 _'I killed Gladion.'  
_  
"YOU!" Lusamine screamed. Sun stayed hidden, hoping in an infantile manner that he would be invisible as long as he couldn't see her. "YOU KILLED MY SON!" She ripped the shroud away with her taloned fingers and Sun yelped in fear as he saw a momentary glimpse like lightning of her looming over him.

Her arm moved like a speeding bullet to affix itself around his windpipe and crush it, squeezing until he broke in her arms and was left an empty-

Lusamine stopped.

Sun was crying out in terror, screaming at the top of his lungs as she froze up. Slowly her hand returned to her side and then rose, in tandem with her other hand, to cover her face, to hide from what she'd just tried to do. "No... it was me..." The President of the Foundation fell to her knees with a smack, pain firing off in a small burst. "It was-" she sobbed. Protecting Sun was an impossible task to set herself. Only one clear pathway presented itself now, the path that she feared more than prison. "It was me. I was always..."

Sun was still screaming.

"No, no, no..." she lay on her side, crying into her hands. "No... no..."

Death.

It wasn't as if she was on the run from it her whole life, but now more than ever she wished to be immortal. What torture was more complete than death? Infinite silence, you, yourself, and the nothing you dissolved into with time. And where would she go when she died? It was easy to tell. Hell. Naturally.

An apocalyptic scenario stretched ahead. Plain dirt path, walked on bare feet, hot as burning coals, arms in chains and few earthly tethers. The blade of steel sharper than any razor's caress was endlessly pointed, and it made such a raw and resonant noise as it dropped that she wanted to vomit at the abhorrent song it sung as it fell through its frame.

The violent kiss on the back of her neck made her remove her hands from her face and plant them where the blade had begun its incision as it fell through her body in the vision. It was coming for one of them, her or Sun. She could taste it in the air, in the false security she'd assured herself she had on the Paradise. It was going to take all that they had. Lusamine's consequences had already arrived, were still arriving, and would come again. She'd taken Sun's family and past, so it had taken hers in turn. Fate had handed Lusamine exactly what she requested.

 _Alone._ No Gladion. No Lillie. Only Sun, her perfect son who she never wanted to be a thing like her and at the same time needed him to be an exact replica of her. Who seemed excited at the prospect of becoming her new shadow, a little piece of her mentality broken off from the whole and taking root in what he was, choking and girdling him in a caress of overgrown ivy. Pitying him was a slight gleam of whatever morality she may have left, but for him to be healthy she had to look after him until she could teach him independence. And for all the grandiose thoughts she was having on fate, all the bullshit her mind concocted and spun, she wouldn't even know where to begin to be a good person. It was impossible.

Lusamine had all the thoughts in the time it took to cry another singular tear, Sun watching, still scared that she'd leap up and attack him. "Mommy..." he asked, his voice straining for calm. "I- I'm sorry-"

Her hair was concealing her face from him like a curtain, so when she looked up and a thin slit appeared in her now-messy bangs to reveal her smiling, he recoiled. She giggled to herself. "Oh, come here, Sun." Holding her arms wide she invited him into her embrace. The smile slipped and fell off. She now looked devastated instead.  
 _She is the devil. She did all this to you. You need to say no,'_ he told himself, but another Sun said that he needed her.

 _'Sun,'_ a voice whispered from across the room. He looked but didn't see anyone. It had sounded like Lillie. Sun stayed sat where he was, so Lusamine started to come to him, moving awkwardly on her knees, her sliding sanity affixed to her face. When she was halfway to him he helped make up the rest of the distance.

"Oh, my baby boy... you wanted to stay, hm?"

Sun didn't reply, but his hold against her, grabbing fistfuls of her dress material and clinging to it, told her everything.

"D-don't worry about a thing. I'm a selfish person, Sun. And I want you to stay too. So you- of course you can." She was ignoring everything her morality had tried to hammer into her for another five minutes of happiness.

"What about Wicke?"

"Leave her to me." Lusamine told Sun, placing her hands flat on either side of his face. "I can't let you go, and I'm not going to let anyone blackmail me into doing so." She was talking complete nonsense just to feel better about herself. This was her weakness. She couldn't accept it.

Where moments ago he was comfortable with Lusamine's presence, her behavior now was unsettling him. Stroking his face in a manner not dissimilar to when she'd had him strapped down and was awaiting his conversion. Again he found himself wanting to leave instead, but there was some sort of connection that tied him to her.

"My... my... son." Sun's hands went around her wrists, not pulling her hands away or pushing her back, just holding onto her forearms. Lusamine's breath was stressed. "I'm going to- to make it okay for you. Anyone who tries to stop us from being happy, I'll-" Sun was avoiding her eyes again, seeing the same crazed element that existed when Nihilego was in her system. "What's wrong?"

"Um... I don't..." Sun could hear Lillie, but not what she was saying to him. "I don't-"

"S-Sun, if you- you don't want to stay, that's okay too, I'll let you go-" she tried to cover up her earlier self-asserted selfishness by conforming to his idea, trying to make it seem like she wasn't desperate to keep him. That could be evidence he used against her and oh Arceus it was all so messed up-

"I can't make up my mind," he admitted and closed his eyes, thinking. There was a noise like a deep air raid siren rising in the very back of his skull, similar to the roaring synthetic blasts of noise Nihilego forced into his ears when he was infected but more natural, something more human. "I think you'll... you'll hurt me."

"No, Sun, no, I'd never- never again-"

"No, I have to be- I want to explore again and finish my- my island challenge." Sun sighed. "But I can't... not like this." He stared at his hands, folding the fingers outward before closing his fists again. "Not like-"

"Sun? Talk to me."

Sun had been speaking. "What?"

"You- you were just moving your mouth. You weren't saying anything." Lusamine let him go but put her hands on his knees, leaning forward. "You're not healthy enough to leave." She was pushing it, she knew that, but she had to make him see...

Sun's face fell. There was going to be no easy way out of this. He felt cracks in his persona again, driving a knife between tessellated tiles that he was constructed from to try and pull them apart. He saw different ideas beneath those tiles. The idea that he was being purposefully clingy specifically to get her into trouble. The idea that he wanted to be in trouble himself to pay for what he'd done to Gladion. Beneath it all, beneath whatever glue had stuck his pieces together was rot that slipped corruption into his being. He was out of tune with himself, falling out of melody, his familiar paths breaking and dividing.

Sun mumbled to himself. To him it made sense, but it worried Lusamine. Normally when he did that it was just noise, just syllables landing together haphazardly, but this was word salad, complete gibberish.

"Are you-" Lusamine stopped herself. He wasn't safe, not even slightly. He didn't even understand how damaged he was. "Oh, my sweet, sweet child..." she sighed and cuddled him again, just trying to comfort him. Hearing her children's voices, losing his sanity with no idea it was even happening, she had done all of this to him, put him on this path the moment the idea had crossed her mind, the idea that she didn't even feel like she had conceived.

Lusamine had to think of something to do for him. She couldn't bear the idea of him alone in some deadbeat flat, noise echoing up the stinking staircase to a second- or third-floor apartment with him inside, all by himself with only a few Pokémon to keep him company, hearing voices and fighting himself. Her visualisation of the scene became more developed as she thought longer about it. The flat was in some pissant part of Alola, some seedy den where scum like Guzma's 'crew' loitered and threatened the locals for money regularly.

Sun coming back to the place after trying to go outside and enjoy it like he used to but just finding it too hard, too difficult to parse truth from lie, and having a knife pointed in his face by some druggie, some- some lowlife vermin. Lusamine wanted to stop her rampant imagination and instead of truly stopping it accidentally hit a fast forward, zipping by through the gritty, filth-encrusted details.

Sun becoming truly depressed, thinking about the suffering he wrongly blamed himself for, and slowly losing his mind completely until he either... She didn't want to finish the simulation. But she saw both - Sun kicking the chair and Sun going to the police at last, where they rushed to her, kicked down her door-

"You really need me to go, don't you?" Sun said at her distraction, getting the words out properly now.

That hurt. That hurt more than his facial response could have. The face he made would have stung. The words he spoke were like a machete across the chest, gash wound spurting dirty blood like a horizontal waterfall. Arteries severed and aorta maimed. Lusamine realised that even with all her oratory skill and mental capacity Wicke would not fold to her, not regarding Sun's safety. Promising to 'take care' of Wicke had been an empty statement fueled by this horrible and depraved taste to keep him.

"Sun, if you don't then you and I will never see each other again," she told him. Police dragging her away from him while he shouted in confusion, begging, _'Mother, mother, no- don't-'_ him sitting alone in a white room waiting for people with clipboards and little name badges to enter and start interrogating him nicely, him asking to see her and the shrinks giving each other looks that he didn't understand but said that he was one for the asylum.

"Can I go to my room? I have to... to think..."

Lusamine swallowed, looked left and right, and nodded once. "Try and get some sleep. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

* * *

Sun sat below the window in his room and the stars illuminated the place that had been his comfortable prison for a while. He held up a hand in front of him and saw it was white as his mother's. Sun knew that wasn't how he looked in reality. He was himself again, but he either wanted to still be or was clinging to the brief and deluded happiness that he had as Aether Sun.

The light was off, and the stars, as numerous and beautiful as they were, could not reach the whole room. Darkness still smothered some corners, and when he stared into them it felt like they stared back - if he persisted long enough they began to scratch like something was trapped in the walls.

Sun was sitting with his duvet over his legs, planning to sleep on the floor. He wouldn't rest in the same place where his captor raped him, and as that determined mindset made itself known again he thought about how quickly his personality had flipped. From believing it, or wanting to believe it, to not believing it at all and hating the woman sleeping downstairs.

She'd _raped_ him. She'd _seduced_ him _again and again_ with the control she had over him, dangling him from honeyed strings. Sun should be more desperate to escape. He should be trying to break the window, leaping out and running, running to the dock, and if there were no boats there, leaping into the sea such would his need for escape be.  
So why the hell wasn't he?

Gladion had died trying to free him. Gladion had never given up, never stopped trying. Lillie had fallen to the same trap as her mother, but had always had good intentions before entering into the pact with Nihilego. Sun still thought of Lillie as a good friend, not feeling betrayed by her sexual assault on him. It had been scary, and he'd felt sick and was in peril, but... it wasn't her. It hadn't been her. He didn't know if the same logic applied to Lusamine. Had she been under Nihilego's control? There were clear differences to how she acted then and now, and she seemed to regret what she'd done. Skepticism prevented Sun from believing in the honesty of that regret.  
Here, at the end of the line, on the other side of the tunnel that they had been squeezed through, here, this, was what should be resolution. He held every card, she'd given him every card back. He decided her fate with the hand he chose, but he didn't know how to play the game, nor truly who he was against. Himself, or Lusamine? Or had they both been playing against Nihilego?

Sun lay on his side in a fetal position, clutching his sheets and shutting his eyes tight as _more_ came. He didn't know what to call the experiences - flashbacks seemed inadequate and replays were too general a term. He saw it in grimy, dilapidated resolutions, the movements jagged and stuttering, making him appreciate the buttery smoothness of real life's speed and flow.

 _Gladion holding his hand as they went through Seaward Cave. Lillie breaking up their fights. Lusamine hugging him after they'd looked at each other side by side in the mirror. Silvally - then Null - ripping apart his arm and flaying the fake white gunk from his body.  
_  
There was so much variance. Memories that made him feel good, feel- feel loved, like _holding Gladion's hand and making Lusamine proud._ More flashed by and these hurt- _Gladion begging for his life as he struck him over and over until that- that noise rang out, that crack-  
_  
His subconscious malevolently honed in on that noise and replayed it, stuttering it into an audio loop. Sun couldn't escape it, couldn't stop repeating the associated images in his head. He murdered Gladion again and again and again. The loop made it, _crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack-  
_  
Another painful image arose. He was _licking Lusamine's fingers, sucking on them lovingly so shortly after she'd raped him._ He hadn't understood that it was wrong at all, had thought that it was just proof she loved him. That had to be an element in his unwillingness to run or inform on her - when she'd abused him he didn't even know it was abuse.

Again his mind worked against him, conspiratorial in nature. It simulated the sensation of her fingers in his mouth again and he gagged at the sudden feel, but was repulsed to think that he wanted more. Wanted to go back to not knowing, wanted to be that pet-

Sun bit the material of his duvet and screamed. "No," he whispered after spitting it out again. "I- I won't be a- a pet..." he buried his head in the softness and cried, scared of the future. Even while crying he still felt a warm flame in his heart that told him he was happy here, and as that became his central thought he wiped away the tears and started giggling instead, laughing at how silly he was being. He belonged here now-

 _Help me-  
_  
-and he wanted to stay forever and ever, with his mother who loved him - he wanted to be fixed and forget about who he was and just be his beautiful self again, with shining green eyes and soft blonde hair framing sleek white skin. He wanted his perfect body back, and to unburden his soul.

 _SOMEBODY HELP ME-  
_  
Sun could look to his left and see the mirror in the corner reflecting him, and he looked different - his hair was longer, he was taller, he wasn't the one in his reflection. He swept his hair and Lusamine did. He closed one eye and she did. He raised one hand and she did. Sun picked himself up quickly.

He stomped across the room, making as much noise as possible in his frustration. He gripped the frame of the elegant standing mirror and thrust it downward angrily, and it fell on its face and shattered into a million little shards, like the one that she had shown him-

 _Sun was wide eyed and shrinking into his bed, leaning as far away from the psychotic woman as possible. The President of the Foundation was picking up the pieces of the mirror already. "I GAVE YOU THIS!" She held up the largest shard, allowing the others to fall through her fingers - one piece sliced through the palm of her hand. Unflinching, she marched to Sun and grasped the back of his neck, forcing him to stare into it. "LOOK!" She leaned in beside him so that the reflection displayed them both. "Look at us, Sun!"  
_  
-himself in, his new and improved body, he looked like her clone, like her little boy, like her pet, like her son. He fell to his knees and sifted through the little broken bits like-

 _He lifted it up and pointed the needle toward him, intending to drive it into his forearm. Nihilego squirmed. He could see the black venom within the single piece bubbling and boiling.  
_  
-Nihilego shards, like the insidious creeping snakes of black fluids that drained the consumer of all they were. Silvally had woken up at the mirror breaking but Sun paid it no mind. He was looking for something that could show him who he was again, what he was doing, where he belonged.

He saw one large jagged piece and carefully picked it up.

Even in the dark without the same illumination the window had provided he could see that his reflection didn't show him as he was. "NO!" Sun shrieked at his green eyes.

He clutched the mirror blade tighter and raised it.

How ironic that months ago - maybe a year, how could he know? - he planned to kill Lusamine in a similar fashion.

Sun aimed for his wrist and found the resolve to hurt someone at last, without Nihilego's push. He would hurt himself. He would kill himself. Silvally made a noise as he swung.

 _ **"SUN, NO!"**_ Lusamine had thrown the door open, woken by the crash of the mirror shattering. She saw him set to dash his wrist with the knife in the pale and anemic moonlit space and screamed at him to stop.

Sun was barely able to stop himself at the sight of her, but still couldn't curb the feeling of helplessness that was driving him to think so destructively. He lunged forward while avoiding the scattered pieces of mirror and wanted to hurt her, had to kill her like he should have-

 _He wasn't a murderer, he couldn't-  
_  
Kill-

Lusamine didn't try to escape, a look of shock plastered on her face. "You tried to..."

Sun was stuck in place mid-lunge, trying to figure out what to do. "I should've killed you before you- before you hurt me, before you- took me and turned me-" he stuttered and stumbled over words. "I love you so much..."

Sun staggered into her arms and broke down as she patted him on the back, rocking him from side to side slightly. "Shh. Shh. It'll be okay, honey." Lusamine was scared of what she'd seen, what he could do now while not under her supervision. If she'd been a second later up those stairs, down the corridor, he would be dead or dying, blood filling the air in a visceral jet. "Baby, let's go back downstairs, okay? You can stay with me tonight."

Part of Sun wanted to scream 'no', and another, more significant part felt a wash of relief. The hallucinations had got worse while he was on his own, and being with Lusamine and her effect on him to calm him down would hopefully dispel some of the worst of it.

She took his hand, making him drop the weapon. Silvally followed them along as they left Sun's room, not understanding nor caring about the interactions of the two humans, simply seeking to be with Sun.

"Mother," Sun groaned as they took the short trip to Lusamine's room, "I don't know what I want."

"You'll figure it out," Lusamine said to reassure him. "Don't worry."

"Okay," he accepted her response without giving it any real thought, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "But mommy, I- I-"

"Shh, my sweet little boy. It'll be fine." As they descended the stairs in the dark Lusamine glanced to the chandelier and saw the Joltik web glowing yellow in the night from where it fed into the ceiling. She couldn't see the Pokémon. "Now, honey," she began as they entered, "if you're too cold or too warm or need anything, let me know, okay?"

"Yes, mother," Sun said and sat on the bed. He remembered why he hadn't wanted to sleep in his own bed - what they'd done here wasn't much better. "Um- mot- miss Lusamine…"

"Yes, Sun?" Lusamine hadn't let his change of addressing her slip under the radar and adjusted her response accordingly, not referring to him with a pet name or as a child.  
"I- I don't want to sleep you with here-" Sun stuttered. Again he'd messed up his sentence structure.

Lusamine blinked. "Sun, my sweet, I won't let you go back up there. You could hurt yourself." She held his hand in both of her own as she said it, one of hers below and one on top.

"C-can I get my blankets?" Sun requested.

Lusamine just wanted to touch him, to stroke his face, to cuddle with him... she curbed the sick needs. "No, honey. Just share mine. It'll be okay. I won't hurt you, I-"  
"No, I- I don't-"

"I'll sleep on the floor," Lusamine negotiated quickly. She felt another need to keep him around her. Sun made a mumbling noise. "Listen to me, please. You stay here, okay? I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't know what I want..." Sun whined as he closed his eyes. "I don't know..."

Lusamine leaned down and hugged him, rocking him from side to side and patting him on the back again. "Shh... shh..." She too was trying not to cry. Sun's hands pressed against her back, holding her close to him. "I'll- I'll look after you. Forever. I'm not going to do anything- anything- bad, I won't- won't hurt you..." she couldn't stop herself from crying now, and letting that emotion shake her voice. "I'm- I don't know what came over me, it- it made me hate my children, hate you, hate- hate everything, I was thinking of- tests, and- I was- I was pushing everything too far-"

She stopped when she felt his nails digging into her. He was bawling at the top of his lungs, screaming, crying desperately into her shoulder. Sun was saying things too, but she couldn't make any sense of it. Silvally nudged at her ankle, wondering what was wrong with Sun.

"He's- he-" Lusamine tried to explain to it, but couldn't go on. The words caught like splinters, and stuck fast.

Sun took a heaving, shivering, painful breath, and managed to spit the phrase, _"I want to go home,"_ before bursting into noise again.

"Alright, okay. We'll take you home. Tomorrow. Okay? You just- just-"

"I want to go _home_ ," he repeated, in a gasp between sobs. "I- I hate you..."

Lusamine let him go, very slowly, taking her hands away from him. The dichotomy in his attitudes was obvious. He still tried to hold on to her but she backed away. Sun remained where he was, sat on the bed, too distraught to protest after her. Lusamine stood a distance away from him, giving him space and just watching, with an expression of raw pity, all the gleam gone from her eyes, dull as aged plastic. Silvally leaped up onto the bed beside him, Lusamine failing to find any kind of ability to tell it to get off as its talons cleaved the mattress.

The Paradise felt claustrophobic. All the white was pushing and pulling, making her think of tendrils that squirmed and quivered in stale air, taking apart her daughter piece by agonising piece. Feelers that encased her, fused with her and made her very nearly kill her only remaining hope, her bright, shining star. Lithe, insidious limbs that mummified Sun and tried to take him away, to eat him in the same manner as it had eaten Lillie.

Lusamine was trembling, one hand on her bedpost, knees shaking, her airway blocked. She had to take loud breaths to confirm that she was inhaling at all. In. Out. In. Out. Keep it together. You can't give it all up now. Stay in control.

What she told herself was having no effect. A strand of her black hair passed in front of her eyes and she nearly screamed at the thought of her carefully manufactured look being so wrong. All that she was had been destroyed by what she'd done.

In the midst of this inner cataclysm, she could only think about Sun. Not in the predatory way she had, but in an altogether new manner. She had to see that he was well. He had to be going through something similar to her, perhaps worse - no, definitely worse. She'd put him through all of this. Internally, the President's mental breakdown began.  
In a type of trance, Lusamine sought out something that could kill the pain. It was all mental, all guilt stacked up until its height was dizzying and inspiring vertigo. She went into the same bedside table cabinet she had when Sun had first come out of the influence of Nihilego's infection.

The intent here was the same. Drown her sorrows. She could never address them, that would be to admit on some level far deeper than her mere thoughts that she was wrong all along. Sun's screaming provided the backdrop for her to extract another bottle and rip out the cork. She wandered over to and sat at the little black table and through tired eyes watched herself pour whatever the fuck random beverage she'd picked. Like a waterfall of blood - and not even a steady waterfall at that, her hand was shaking enough to make it look like this stream was breaking against rocks before it began its cascade - she watched it fill the bottom of a glass already sat atop the table and closed her free hand around it.

In her mind she was drinking the blood on her hands, indulging in even more self-hatred. Lillie. Gladion. Sun. That... that kid Hau. She glanced in Sun's direction and saw him crying, still loudly, still heartrendingly, into Silvally's mane. Putting her hand to her forehead, she reached across the table to her phone, where she'd left it. The gentle gold light from the chandelier left a sunspot on the screen.

She keyed in two numbers, nine and one. Her thumb hovered over 'one'. She looked back at Sun. Back to the pixels on the dark screen, seeing herself in the black mirror.  
She switched off the phone again and slid it across the table. She accidentally had pushed it too far, and it fell off the table with a clatter. Sun looked up briefly and their eyes met.

Lusamine broke the gaze, taking another sip. He was quiet now. Whatever it was had left his system.

"I'll- I'll sleep here," Sun said. "With you." He sniffled.

Lusamine nodded and took another sip. She didn't move.

"Miss Lusamine?"

She held up a hand to quiet him.

"You... you didn't call anyone, did you?"

Shaking her head, she took another sip.

"Why not?" Sun was more confused now. He seemed to have got some of the pain out through his pointless noise-making. He was still crying, but not as loudly or obnoxiously.

Lusamine looked at the glass she was holding and swilled the liquid in the bottom. "Sun, would it help you if I killed myself?"

"Wha-"

"If I just... _died_... would you feel any better about it? All of this? If I just..." she put the glass down and pushed her hands together, interlocking the fingers before quickly pulling them apart, mimicking an explosion. "I deserve it. I ruined everything I had. I could've had a nice, happy family, but I wanted that Ultra Beast."

"Miss Lusamine-"

" _Miss Lusamine_ ," she scoffed. "I used to be Mrs, you know. Used to be... sane. Used to think like a human being. Didn't _hurt_ anyone. Loved Pokémon, like you."

"Are you..." Sun began.

"Sit down." Lusamine had no idea where she was going with this. Sun obeyed, standing up off the bed, and sat opposite her. There were still little gasps coming from him as he struggled to keep his sadness, anger, agony in check for his adoptive mother. Silvally followed him. The bond they had formed was impressive: ultimately it was one formed through shared grief at the loss of Gladion.

"What's wrong?"

"I watched my husband get taken from me, hurt my children and drove them out. I built the creature you call your friend," she motioned to Silvally, which huffed in her direction, rebuking her address, "out of pieces of my own son's Pokémon, among others stolen by Guzma's gangsters. My daughter, I forced her to look like that... obsession. You. You came here."

Sun shifted uncomfortably. During his first visit he'd admired her apparent dedication to protecting Pokémon. With time though it had become clear she was a monster - and when he'd collected his memories back, something worse than that, something truly indescribable.

"You came here and you hurt Nihilego and you impressed me, and I wanted that strength myself. You killed - you hurt what I thought was perfect." She was staring into the liquid again, having not met his eyes since she'd started talking. "So I suppose I wanted that for myself. You... you... I took you and I made you mine, to fulfil everything Nihilego wanted me to do."

Sun didn't move. "And... it didn't work."

"No. It didn't. We... I started to... to think again. For myself. I wanted to..." There were long breaks between words where she tasted the air she breathed, wanting to tap into every sense she possessed fully. "...wanted to protect you more than I wanted to find Nihilego. Ever since... since Gladion, I wanted to..."

"Nihilego lost." Sun said simply. It hadn't truly lost - there were thousands upon thousands of the crystal demons in Ultra Space - every one as dangerous as the next. Lusamine didn't mention this. It didn't seem fair.

"It did. And... thank you. For helping me try to save my daughter."

"That's okay." Sun replied. There was something about his responses that gave the impression that he wasn't thinking about the topic of conversation at all.

"Tomorrow, I'm... I have to turn myself in." Lusamine drained the glass. "For you. I'm so sorry. But I've done too much- too much evil to get away with it. I was a moron to say you could stay with me. It'll only make you worse."

"Mother, you were- it wasn't all your fault-" Sun didn't want to make excuses for her. She was right. She was telling the truth. But he felt like there was something more to all the layers of insanity that they had both been baptised in over the whole ordeal, something that had to be understood and clinically processed.

"Don't call me _'mother'_ , Sun. I don't... don't deserve your attention. You're better off without me. I don't expect you to understand... I messed you up too badly for that." Lusamine refilled the glass, ignoring the bitterness already clogging her throat. It was like her acceptance of her mistakes made things seem clearer. "If I had never taken you... seen sense again... if I hadn't hurt you, if _you'd_ have defeated _me_... that would be perfect."

"Mother, its- it was Nihilego-"

"No, it was me. It was always me. Sun... you have to stay far away from me for your own good." Lusamine reached across the table to him and Sun put out his hand. Their fingers brushed before Lusamine pulled her arm back. "I'm sorry."

"I-" Sun began. "You'll let me go?"

"Yes. And then- I'll..." Lusamine stopped herself. She couldn't turn herself in, no, how could she be so stupid? That meant admitting she hurt Sun and in turn he'd be prodded at and poked by the police for years, probably, until they got some sort of confession out of him. Then he'd be locked up for killing Gladion, and- it was all pointless. "Let's go to sleep." She'd gone through so many potential outcomes in her head that the paranoia was deafening and spoke above all else. Was she going to be informed on? Was she going to turn herself in? Kill herself? She felt light headed.

"Am I staying?" Sun asked. "Or can I go to my room?"

"No, don't go to your room, I'm scared you'll hurt yourself," Lusamine repeated, aware of the hypocrisy of saying they should be apart and then refusing to let him leave the room. She drained what was left in the glass and refilled it before taking it with her to the bedside, Sun following. "I'll sleep on the ground."

"Mommy, you don't have to-"

"I do. And don't call me that anymore, Sun. Goodnight." Lusamine watched Sun lie down in her bed and pull the covers over himself, avoiding the slashes Silvally had left.  
"Goodnight, mother. Goodnight, Silvally."

The chimera crooned a response.

Lusamine wanted to be with him, to lie beside him and cry the same way he had, just make noise and scream and scream and scream until there was no more breath and no more words. Scream that he was calling her mother, scream that he belonged to her and himself and nobody and anyone.

But she lay on the ground and shut her eyes, and cried. Listened to him talk to himself in his sleep. Thought about what would happen to them both. It was cold on the floor. Like death.


	42. Voices, Murder, Detatchment

When Sun woke up, he didn't know where he was. Things seemed wrong. He held up a hand in front of him and saw it was white - he leaned over in bed and saw herself lying on the floor beside her.

Sun was Lusamine again, in his mind's eye. He shook his hand in front of his face, knowing that it was merely a trick of his mind, watching it darken gradually before his very eyes. "Hm." The noise was one of acknowledgement, like his body had been trying to tell him something by showing him that image.

Sun rolled over and pulled the sheets up further. They were warm and comfy, and he wrapped himself in them like a Metapod, with just his head peeking out of the top of the roll. He lay his head back again.

 _"Sun?"  
_  
He froze, the contented expression he had found slipping. "...Lillie?" he whispered back.

 _"Sun... it's me..."  
_  
He didn't say anything back.

 _"Sun... I miss you... and I'm sorry..."  
_  
"I miss you too," he murmured. He knew he had to tell moth- miss Lusamine about this, but he also wanted to keep it private.

 _"We just want to see you again... don't you want to see us?"  
_  
As she went on the illusion wavered, her voice becoming unusual, changing pattern. Sun blinked. He connected the dots as to what it meant, and sighed, receding into the roll. He was trying to trick himself into doing something bad again, miss Lusamine had told him to stay downstairs with her to stop it from happening. He should trust her.

Waiting quietly for her to wake up, he found peace for a while, with Lusamine sleeping on the floor by his side, even though she'd done all that... what did she call it? _'Twisted shit?'_ Sun considered that she was quite rude, or had become rude with all the stress. She didn't seem like the kind of person to be rude, or rather didn't look like she was. Sun knew that appearances were deceiving though.

He had looked like her son.

Silvally was very lax, Sun thought. It couldn't help but snooze. It didn't look the least bit like it was going to wake up soon. He wanted to reach over to it but it was too far away from him, and making any noise was more likely to wake Lusamine than it was Silvally.

Time passed.

Lusamine woke up, her eyes opening a slit. She exhaled heavily at the revelation that the events of the previous day were real, and closed her eyes again.

"Mother?"

How had Sun noticed that?

"Don't call me that, please." Her reply was breathed into the white floor, pushing aside strands of black hair. She saw in her mind a developing schedule. Following a plan would help her keep it together.

Bullet point number one. Fix hair.

"But-"

"No _'buts',_ Sun, please." Lusamine forced herself to stand. She felt like she should have a hangover, but hadn't drunk much of the bottle: instead, she had been refilling the base of the glass. "Now-" she swayed unexpectedly and had to grab the bedpost to stop herself from collapsing. Sun had sat up to catch her if she did fall, and she glanced down at his face, eyes wide with concern. "Now..." she continued, "The first thing I think we should do is fix your hair. And mine."

Sun's hands went over his head slowly. Lusamine had to resist rolling her eyes at the reaction, still blinking away sleep.

"You don't... like it, do you?" Her question was asked with trepidation, unwilling to hear the answer. "Sun, don't you want to be... you?"

"Sometimes," he replied.

Lusamine put her head in her hands. "You are so difficult, you know that?" She slid her fingers apart - her fringe covered her right eye as usual while the left peered between two digits, pointing a jade beam at him. Her tiredness made her cranky, coupled with the soreness from resting on the floor.

"I'll figure it out. I promise." He slid out of her bed and stood beside her, and she was distracted from looking at him as he moved, not even thinking - just blanking reality completely. She was focused on a point she couldn't see until Sun drew her attention again, tugging at her nightdress. "Mother?"

"Sun, don't call me- oh, do what you want." She wrapped her arm over his shoulder and hugged him. "Listen- I'm going to- going to come up with something. I can't think of it now, but I'm going to think of a way to- to make you happy." Sun was playing with her hair while she spoke, and faintly trembled as he did, not the same shakes as before. Slightly more controlled. "Sun, are you listening?"

"Huh?" He was wearing her hair like a cloak, drawing it over himself.

"Forget it." Lusamine put her hand atop his head and stroked backwards through his hair twice exactly. Sun purred and Lusamine felt the familiar desire to grab him roughly and either scream at him or kiss him. She settled halfway and stroked him a third time.

"Do that again," Sun demanded, holding his black cloak tighter over himself. Her hair was long enough to not hurt when he did so.

"Sun, why-"

"Do it again, please!" There was an element of panic to his voice. "Please-"

Lusamine did as he asked before he got any more distraught. "What's-"

"I can't feel my-" he let go of her hair and stepped forward, right hand going to his right temple. "I can't feel my-" he was hyperventilating. "Mother-"

"Sun-" Lusamine descended on him and held his forearms, keeping them away from his face. "It's okay, I'm here-" she tried to keep him from scaring himself.

"Stop it," he said, but there was no demand to his voice, no request - they were just words. "Stop it, Lillie. I don't-"

 _Oh, Arceus.  
_  
"She's- she's talking to you? Sun, don't trust- she's not really-" Lusamine hugged Sun tighter.

"Let me go-" Sun struggled. Silvally woozily raised its head; it saw Sun swatting at Lusamine and launched upward, growling at her, misreading her intent.

"No- wait-" she let Sun go and he instantly started poking the side of his face with his right hand, taking it away and looking at his fingers as if he was expecting to see blood. Silvally nuzzled at his leg and Sun did something Lusamine would have never expected of him.

He kicked in the direction of Silvally. Lusamine gasped as a clang rang out, his foot bouncing off the armoured muzzle. The Pokémon, confused and frightened by Sun's violence, backed away, whining. "Sun," Lusamine tried to speak to him.

"I can't feel my face- am I gonna die? Am I dying?" He fell into her arms, Lusamine lunging forward to catch him before he hit the hard tile floor. "Mother, don't let me die..." she touched the same side of his face that he'd been poking at and felt nothing unusual. Panic was absolutely taking hold now.

"You're not going to die, baby, you can't feel that?" Lusamine kept her fingers against him. There was no way to indicate if he was telling the truth, lying, or even just confusing himself. "Sun, you're going to-"

"I can't feel it! Don't let me die, please, please-" he had been crippled by the hallucinations, slipping out of her embrace with knees bent and eyes dipped to the floor, too scared to look up. Even with the very few years of 'good' parenting she had under her belt (her husband was always better with the kids), Lusamine couldn't think of a thing to do to calm him down.

Silvally was approaching cautiously for another try and Lusamine stuck out her hand, indicating it to not intervene - she only wished that it would understand and back off. Thankfully it stopped in its tracks and sat a median distance from Sun, waiting for him to be done with the episode so it could placate him.

"I can't feel- I can't- oh, help me..." Sun finally sagged all the way to the ground with a thump. He hadn't fainted, but his eyes were glassy and unseeing, mouth agape.  
"Sun?" Lusamine asked. "Sun, talk to me."

"Mnnn..." he offered in response. Lusamine kneeled beside him.

"Honey, can... can you feel anything else wrong?" She didn't want him to suffer, but had no idea if it was all in his head or if there was a real issue here. Again she considered that Nihilego was lurking still, that there was one little undetected piece slithering through their home, in the walls, under the floor... she crouched a little closer to Sun. Even in his state she thought he could protect her from the Ultra Beast.

"I can feel... I can hear it..." Lusamine changed her position, legs crossed, and lifted Sun into her lap. Making another groaning noise, but one more of comfort, he rested against her. "You have to make sure I'm okay," Sun begged her. "You have to me okay."

Another example of him missing out words he needed to speak. Lusamine put her hand on his forehead, and couldn't feel a fever. Maybe he'd caught some bug from Ultra Space, something in the Deep Sea. That was equally scary as Nihilego's implied presence.

"I will. I will." Lusamine promised while Sun tried to cover his eyes with her hair. "Are you seeing things again?"

"It's Lillie..."

Lusamine's breath stuck painfully. Her daughter, who she'd last seen as victim to the abomination she had wasted her life adoring. Appearing to the boy she had been best friends with. Lusamine had ruined everything for Sun and Lillie, imagining now that Sun might have actually been able to show her the error of her ways if she hadn't gone off the deep end, and brought her family together again. It was all she'd wanted, for her Sun to set an example to his 'siblings', bring them all together again. Now it was clear she never needed to. She was the one at fault all along, driven to all these absurd and depraved notions by Nihilego.

"What is she saying?" Lusamine asked, without really wanting to know. She was covering his eyes with her hands now so that he wasn't tugging on her hair.

"She misses me."

Lusamine hugged him and whispered to him, hushing him as he tried to keep speaking about it. "It was my fault. Not yours. Nobody to blame but me."

"What are we going to do?" Sun asked, and Lusamine was not prepared to answer. "I don't... you... you're the only person who... understands..."

Lusamine felt that statement like a defibrillator hit. If she left him alone, he wouldn't cope. He just wouldn't. She would never hurt him or allow him to hurt himself again. "I'm not letting you go until you're ready."

"Thank you," Sun mumbled. "Thank you... mo..." he fell silent midway through the word.

"You can call me it if you want." Lusamine lowered her voice. "It makes me feel wanted," she added. She had felt a need for him to finish, disregarding her concerns about deluding him further. Which way was the right way? Which path would be the correct one to take? That had clearly been selfish, but...

"Thank you, mother." There was no word to describe the emotion that Lusamine felt, but there was something to be said about the sensation, a slight tingle below her sternum, unease and love fighting in a violent and whirling melee inside her body. It was much greater than simply feeling 'wanted'.

"Which means I have to talk to Wicke." Lusamine muttered. Silvally, deciding Sun was okay now, moved to be with the two humans, nuzzling Sun and headbutting Lusamine, not too hard but hard enough to tell her it still hadn't warmed to her. She could live with that.

"Let me come with you," Sun said. "I want to explain." He patted Silvally unusually awkwardly, almost like a child with unmeasured and imprecise swings. Less _'pat, pat, pat,'_ and more _'bonk, bonk, bonk.'_ Silvally stopped him by resting its large muzzle against his collarbone, enough to block his arm.

"Sun, I don't know if that's-" Lusamine remembered her earlier list. "We need to fix your hair."

"And yours." Sun noted.

"And mine. We'll have to talk to Faba-"

"I don't want to talk to him. I don't want him to operate on us." Sun wriggled a little as he spoke.

"I'll see what I can do." Lusamine replied. "I'll talk to Faba, then... then Wicke. _You_..." she tickled his neck and he froze up in her arms, jerking violently in response to the unexpected stimulation while giggling helplessly, "...you need to stay here and get more sleep."

Sun recovered from his giggles and his face fell. "What if... what if I think something... bad?"

Lusamine gave pause for that. She rubbed her forearm, and as she did so noticed that she was picking up some of his habits, that being one such. She drew him in slightly closer and kissed him gently on his forehead.

"Oh. I felt that." He ran his hand over the right side of his face. "I can feel it again!"

Lusamine exhaled sharply and touched his hair, not stroking it, but just feeling his fringe. "You're so beautiful..." she said without thinking. "You... you..." she kissed him again, and this time Sun wobbled a little bit in her hold, a questioning expression written on his face. Some of his own concerns about her motives came to light seeing Lusamine so distracted so quickly by something as simple as holding him.

"Mother, do you think you'll be okay if you let me go?" Lusamine hadn't been trying to think of herself, she was trying to think of Sun and Sun only. So when he asked, she answered.

"If you're happy, I'm happy." This was a lie.

"Okay."

"If anything- if you think anything bad, or see anything, just do whatever it is you have to do. Hide or sleep or- or come and find me, okay? Just tell someone you want to see the President and that it's very important, and they should- should send word for me." Lusamine hadn't worked out any such protocol but hoped that any employee seeing a boy in such distress would not question him.

"Yes, mother," Sun sighed. He hid in Silvally's mane. It crooned at him, nipping softly with its mechanical jaws on his neck, affectionate, never with intent to harm.

"I'll bring you back some Tapu Cocoa."

"Thank you, mother."

* * *

"Faba?"

The hunched scientist jumped at her addressing him, knocking three pencils on his workstation over. "M-Miss President, what are you- what is-" Wicke hadn't bothered to inform him of any of the developments - all of Aether had been kept in the dark as to what had happened in the last few days, Sun's very existence still a closely guarded secret to all but the highest echelons of the company, Lusamine, Wicke and Faba. "Your hair- you're not going through a phase, are you?"

"Shut up." Lusamine glared at him and was able to step right back into the role of the intimidating and demanding boss figure so soon after being soft and kind to Sun. "That's what I've come to you for."

"But what- what happened? Your daughter- what-" Faba didn't know where to begin.

"Lillie-" Lusamine didn't want to say a damned word to Faba regarding her daughter, so she didn't. "Listen, you, this-" she pointed at her mop of black hair, "-needs to change. Can you do whatever you did to Sun to it?"

"I mean-" Faba began, but Lusamine cut him off quickly.

"And Sun, he needs the same thing, we need to do a swap." Lusamine knew how silly it sounded, but spoke the words nonetheless, just wanting it all over with.

"Wait- you need me to dye your hair?" Faba asked incredulously. "I have better things to do with my time and my-"

"Faba-" Lusamine hissed.

"-tools than to-"

"-Faba-" Lusamine repeated, her teeth gritted and her voice hushed.

"-change the colour of you and your little pet's-"

"Shut up, Faba." She had raised a hand in front of her face, index finger and thumb together while her other fingers pressed into her palm - on _'up',_ she had violently jerked her arm down. "Shut up. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it myself."

"Miss President, I'm not following-"

"-Faba, just tell me how to fix my hair, for fuck's sake..."

"Our- why are you fixing his? Is he remembering?" Faba scowled, and pointed at her accusingly. "I thought he was. You know what this means, we have to- to kill him, get rid of him." Faba's nasal whine coupled with the words he spoke made Lusamine's cornered irritation spike to all-new highs, and she had to restrain herself from grabbing him by the lapels of the lab coat and shaking him back and forth.

"WE ARE NOT-" she stopped herself, thinking of the potentially incriminating noise she was making. Hushing her voice, she started over: "We are not killing Sun."

"What, screwing his mind is fine but not putting him out of his misery to save both of our necks? Your whole company is at risk, everything I-" Faba was cut off as Lusamine forewent restraint and seized his coat.

"You don't give a shit about my company, you snake. You only did it because you just wanted promotion."

"Miss President, the obvious thing to do here is to eliminate the threat to security." Faba wheezed, ignoring Lusamine's growing grimace. "If you won't do that, I-"

Lusamine slammed him against the workstation, a loud clatter echoing out. She felt she'd better wrap it up quick.

"You will not take this into your own hands. You will not dare. I will handle this. Tell me how to fix the stupid hair colour and you can put the whole ordeal out of your mind." Lusamine looked unhinged.

"The eumelanin in-" Faba began, and Lusamine had to resist hitting him. The scientist cut to the chase. "He needs a shot."

"It's that easy?" Lusamine asked. She didn't trust him for a second. Faba could give Sun a lethal injection, or have a similar horrible plot to undo her son. "Just a shot?"

"Yes. It is. If you'd let me administer-"

"No. You give it to me. Right now."

"...certainly, miss President." He turned away from her, talking to himself. Lusamine tuned out, not wanting to listen to him natter and bitch and go on and on. Already she was afraid for Sun, had to dash back and check that he was safe, was content... her imagination began to run to dark places but she caught it before it could make it too far. Most of Faba's hissing, angry fight had been taken out of him, either by fear of what she was capable of or being scared for his own life. While Lusamine had sworn off excessive violence, she didn't feel any need to tell Faba she had. "The boy has no family, he has nobody who is aware of his existence. Nobody cares about Sun. The easiest solution is to kill him."

"I care about Sun," Lusamine replied. Faba stopped moving entirely from where he had been searching the Foundation's inventory for whatever drug it was that would return Sun's hair to the black it had been.

"I'll bet you do. You, rash, unable to accept that he's an ongoing mistake who should be erased to protect us all - I bet that you've begun to care. He was just an experiment when you came to me to help. To make a point." Faba was scowling and his irascible nature was further tipping Lusamine toward blind anger. "We're scientists. We push the boundaries. He was an exhibit of that strength, until-" he wheezed and coughed, "-until you started to adore him like we made him adore you. You think he cares?" Lusamine shut her eyes, grinding her teeth. Faba went on. "The moment he leaves and isn't subconsciously tied to your will he will take you down. Is that what you want? To-"

Lusamine lunged at him. Her hands locked over his lab coat and she thrust him backward over his workspace, scattering books, pencils, papers and gadgets with a clattering cacophony. Raising one leg she kicked the workstation surface itself - a large bench-like platform - hard enough to make it topple over and onto him.

"We're violent, disgusting, manipulative criminals," Lusamine reminded him, glaring as he tried to get up from being pinned under the workstation. "Hurting that boy was too far. It was wrong, I was wrong."

"You were rushing me," Faba reminded her. "I am not to blame for-"

Lusamine kicked the table. "We are- Faba, I am taking it upon myself to make this right, _do you understand?"_ Faba managed to pull himself out of the pile of debris and brush himself down.

"You want to make things right, and yet when you can't have what you want, you become aggressive, you attack me... quite hypocritical, Miss President. You won't change. You'll never change." The thing that concerned Lusamine most about those words was that he may be right - he probably was.

"I- I- just give me what he needs." Faba smirked, knowing he had touched a nerve that she couldn't just ignore or take in her stride.

"Why don't you dig deep? Figure out exactly why you did it? You didn't do it because you wanted to love him. You just-"

Lusamine kicked the table again, for punctuation. "Faba, shut up, or you are fucking fired!"

"What's the matter, upset? How aggressive, how violent you are, that's the last thing I'd want-"

 _"SHUT UP!"_ Lusamine's hands were tensed into angular and angry claws. _"_ ** _SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP!_** I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME THAT I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON-"

"The only way for you to put this at rest is to kill him." Faba's words echoed into silence. "Do whatever you will, but for this to be over, he has to die. You know that. I know that. The rest of his life will be confused and scared suffering."

Lusamine knew he was trying to play her. She would not let him control the board, wouldn't give him a single piece to make one play with. Not now. Not when the eye of the storm had crossed them and they had barely survived. Not when Sun waited in her house with his mind deteriorating and eroding, when she was the only one who could fix it.

"If you do not kill him, I will tell the authorities myself of what you did."

"And get a cell next to me," Lusamine said, calling Faba's obvious bluff.

"Oh no... I think I'll be able to sell that you threatened me into following your plans." Lusamine felt the spiked jaws of an invisible Venus flytrap shutting over her even as she spoke - Faba's trap was waiting to be sprung.

"And how will you do that?"

"With the necessary footage." Faba, showing a yellow smile, gestured to a small, white camera, invisible against the wall. He'd installed in the corner of his lab. "It's recording to a drive only I can access. You won't destroy the-"

It had recorded her attacking him. He was the only one capable of accessing the drive. It was over and she'd lost.

...But, if he never told the police a thing, that recording would be lost forever... if he was the only one who knew how to view it. "Faba..." she said sweetly, and Faba, still convinced of his own victory, spoke over her.

"Too late. You have finally slipped up too far, Samantha. I will be President of this-"

"-Faba," Lusamine smiled, ignoring his use of her real name, one which she hadn't gone by since the incident with her husband: one which she hadn't heard since the nightmare. "You're the only one who can get to the recording."

"Yes, and-" Faba stopped and realised his fatal mistake. Lusamine stepped over the toppled surface, extended her arms; swatted aside Faba's attempts to ward her off, clamped her hands over his scrawny neck.

"I tried. I really, really did," Lusamine chuckled darkly, enjoying wringing the life from him, bringing back this excessive, opulent evil to give her the strength she needed to cover her tracks. "But you forced my hand. Think about that now."

"Ack- Lus-" she tightened her hold, lithe fingers like steel crushing his windpipe. Rage boiled, magma bursting like cracked pus through molten rock. Sheer, blackened, scorched thoughts drove her to push her strength further into him, forcing him to his knees with a vicious shove. Forget Sun. He didn't need to know about this. This was to protect him, all this was to protect him.

"Shh. Stop struggling. I'm sure it won't be that bad. Can't be worse than what we've already seen, hm?" Lusamine's grip on sanity was elastic, tenuous at best. Her eyes had no gold. Had no infection. They were clear green, like poison, like acid, pouring it onto the subject of her attention, the pathetic scientist writhing in her grip. "What we've already done." Pushing harder, she got him against the wall, his body bent over backward versus her force. Faba's face turned blue. Lusamine smiled and let go.  
Faba was still alive. Choking, spluttering like a fish out of water, spitting.

"But I must thank you, even after all of this, for making him for me. That was our greatest success." Even her linguistics had reverted to when she was infected, when she made these grand comments over small and immoral actions, convinced of her own greatness. One hand affixed on the back of his neck and the other dug into his face, finding a stable grip. Lusamine loosened up her shoulders, savoring the moment, and pulled his head aggressively to one side while resisting with her other hand.  
Faba's neck snapped, and his bulging, terrified eyes turned to glass.

Lusamine sighed as she watched his corpse fall to the ground with a thump. "And there I was, thinking I could change. Maybe you were right."

As the unspoken and subtle dust settled, Lusamine recognised the signs of the creature Nihilego had awoken in her. It was stirring without Nihilego's stimulation, and that had to be contained. She would not fall into its teeth again. Lusamine did a spot check of the room, and decided that given the collapsed workspace, the scattered items and Faba's shattered neck, she should fake a suicide. With the evil dying down, guilt rose - until she reminded herself that she had done it to save Sun.

Emerging into the connecting hallway between the secret labs and using the keys Faba had held to unlock the store cupboard, she put on a pair of rubber gloves, thinking deliberately, emotionless, like Sun would. It was a beautiful thing, detachment. There were Poké Balls, Potions, even Poké Dolls for distracting dangerous specimens, but she wasn't seeking these items - she found an escape rope for field operations at the bottom of the cupboard. The labs were quiet and still as she returned to the scene of the crime and locked the door behind her to avoid disturbance.

She picked up a pencil off the ground, keeping in her head an exact image of how it looked lying there, and crossed the room to the camera, pointing the tip at the lens.  
Lusamine thought, and the detachment, the lack of emotional connection, made her reconsider. There was no need to break the camera. That would be suspicious - Faba wouldn't break the camera himself if he was recording his suicide, and he certainly wouldn't be able to break it after his passing.

With a slight smile, thanking Sun for making her see the strength in thinking this way, she put the pencil back exactly as she'd found it. Sun knew.

She'd do anything for him. Anything.

* * *

After the savage and debased emotionless high that came with killing Faba, Lusamine left the scene with a great deal of confidence. She locked the door from the outside, making sure to use Faba's passcode instead of the main admin one so it couldn't be traced back to her.

She'd taken a note of what Faba had brought up on his datapad, a substance called eumelanin, and a little more research of her own yielded the term pheomelanin. These would cause their hair colours to return to normal. It was remarkably easy to divert the resources from the Foundation for her withdrawal, but of course it was. She was the President, now and forever.

It was for use on Pokémon with issues in their genetics that caused their fur to change colour unnaturally. Not something like an Alolan form, where mutation occurred due to the need for adaptation. Her own studies also suggested that background radiation from Ultra Space could have a hand in causing such adaptations so quickly, Alola having a indescribable link to that other side of reality. She'd had enough of Ultra Space for one lifetime now.

Dropping by the storage levels on the Paradise, Lusamine walked with a confidence that came with murder. That she had the power to do whatever she willed. If Wicke pressed on and ignored her desire to keep him a little, just a little longer, she could excise that power agai-

Wicke was off limits. Wicke had done nothing wrong - Faba had threatened Sun's life. Wicke had been nothing but loyal to her, and had for some reason outside of nothing but that aforementioned loyalty never spoken a word about Sun's existence to anyone.

She just had to make Wicke understand, and in order to create an alibi, a believable one for Faba's suicide, could tell her face-to-face that she'd told Faba that Sun would be let go. The coward would kill himself in that scenario, out of fear of redemption. Lusamine again recognised her own hypocrisy. She'd considered suicide, but the strength she felt now made that notion distant. Lusamine dug into her heart for a short moment. She trembled suddenly, shook with a strong shot of morality. Arceus help her. She'd just committed murder, herself, her hands. Made it look like a suicide. She hadn't gotten any better. She was still willing to reach great lengths of evil to try and 'protect' Sun, and yet at the end of the day Sun was safe. He was safe from harm, all she had to do was ensure he didn't hurt himself after all that had happened.

She had a headache. She felt dizzy.

 _'Missing me so soon?'  
_  
"No. Never." She could rationalise this. It was leftover venom in her system, combined with a need to protect Sun. Faba had threatened Sun, and that was too far. Allowing him to exist just meant another liability. She had done the right thing, for the long-term. Faba was too dangerous to be allowed to live.

In the midst of all these justifications came a voice that said, _'...but you're still lying to yourself.'_ It had to be challenged, but there were no words that came close to rebuking the statement, only a grey acceptance of the fact.

Lusamine tried to clear her head. She thought of Sun. The first check box of the day was still unticked. She still had to get the drugs for their hair. That objective would distract her from her psychological struggle, if only for a moment. Grab what she needed and run back to Sun, cuddle with him, keep him close, put herself at ease.  
Was there any hope that she'd be able to let go?

* * *

Sun had moved onto the sofa.

It had been too hard for him to rest on, so he'd grabbed sheets, blankets, pillows from around the mansion and brought them together into a vast cocoon. He sought only familiar softness, safety. Strange and harrowing thoughts swooped at his mind but he fended them off, scratching at the chrysalis surrounding him to remind himself what was real.

Thoughts of Nihilego abducting him in a similar grip were easily dispelled with this method. Nihilego had been sharp, and biting. The haven he had forged for himself was anything but. Silvally stood guard over him, for once not napping, but instead alert. The web on the ceiling kept drawing Silvally's attention, the chimera trying to spot the culprit who had spun the electrical silk.

Sun had lay like this for hours before Lusamine returned. When she did, he consciously resisted the need to get up and rush to her side, knowing she'd be with him momentarily, especially given he was lying in the living room.

"Sun? Hey, honey..." Her voice was another layer of buttery relief. A warm glow, though uneasy, kindled in his chest. He was going to be fine. "Did I wake you up?"  
"No," he said, with a kind of comfy moan. He didn't want to get up. He was safe right there.

Lusamine sat beside his little fortress of blankets, holding two long, thin black boxes in her hands, syringes with the substances they needed for their hair inside. She set them down on the armrest and kicked off her heels before sighing and leaning back onto the sofa.

"Have you been okay? Feeling good?"

"Yeah," Sun replied, wanting to focus on the warmth. He didn't want to talk to her. He squirmed a little deeper into his labyrinthine layers of comfort.

"Are you cold?"

"No, I just wanted to be... somewhere soft." Sun sounded faintly embarrassed. He blushed bright red as Lusamine shifted beside him and placed her hand over the top of his head, stroking through his hair again. He was stuck now - he didn't have the space to manoeuvre to escape his cocoon with Lusamine sat so close.

"Do you want to fix your hair now, or later?" Her voice felt closer than she was, right in his ear, in his head. Something about the sentence echoed. He could go back to being himself again. At least visually. He recalled what he'd said to Lusamine.

 _'I'm me. But a lot of me is you.'  
_  
"Later." He hadn't had his hair cut properly the whole time he'd been at the Paradise, Lusamine personally only trimming his fringe to keep it at that perfect length where it felt good for her to stroke and run her fingers through the texture. It was beginning to reach down his back, having passed his shoulders, and he'd even noticed it beginning to curl around him like a shield, similar to Lusamine's style.

A lot of him was her. Even naturally.

Silvally gave up its guard position and lay down with a huff. Lusamine was plagued by regret and guilt looking at both Sun and Silvally, but they both were stronger than what she'd put them through. Tougher than what she'd used to try and break them. Lusamine's hand trembled as she stopped stroking him. Her arm reached down a little, inside the roll of blankets and onto his shoulder, which she softly massaged, up and down, near his neck, with the same hands that had strangled Faba. She was trying to draw a purr from him, actively making an attempt.

"Did you get Tapu Cocoa?"

"Shit," Lusamine sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll go get it now." Sun wriggled and freed his arms from the blankets. He clutched her arm, falling over himself to do so. "Sun?"

"Let me come. I want to go outside."

Lusamine thought through a risk assessment of the scenario. It'd be fine. "Sure." Sun unravelled himself, kicking away the roll off of him awkwardly, having to lie across her lap to do so. They both blushed at the action.

"Mo- miss Lusamine... I'm... I'm..." Sun tried to stand up but fell back down beside her. Lusamine was on edge immediately.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry about... about Lillie and Gladion."

"Don't be. It was my fault. I'm sorry about Lillie and Gladion. I'm sorry, Sun. And..." she paid close attention to his face, and changed the subject to distract him. "How have you been today? How have you felt?"

"Um, okay." Sun sounded genuine, but the look on his face told her he'd had a hard time keeping himself together.

"Give me a hug," Lusamine said, making sure to not sound demanding. She opened her arms for him and he leaned into them. "Oh, sweet Sun, I'm so sorry..." she rubbed his back and he made the noise she had desired to hear, sending a spark of joy up her spine. "Come on, honey, let's get you that Tapu Cocoa."

Sun took her offered hand with no protest. At this point he recognised she was all he had, and needed to hold onto that tenuous bond. Even if she wasn't his mother, even if she'd kidnapped and tortured him senseless, she was one of the few people aware of his continued existence, and the only person who had experienced everything with him: the only person who could understand him.

Lusamine was thinking similarly. Even though she'd done such debased acts to him, even if he didn't forgive her, she had to care for him, because despite not being her son he was as close as she could have hoped - not that she did anymore. He'd seen it all, experienced the effects of venom like she had, and understood where her impulses and ideas came from.

"My sweet..." she said, with no plan at all, her mouth moving faster than her mind. Sun filled in the blank.

"Mother..."

Lusamine felt a strong sense of something quite unusual - relief. Normally it came in small, contextual bursts, but something about Sun's tone, his address, while not unusual, told her subconscious that he wasn't going to inform on her. She was going to get away with it, she could feel it.

It made her want to cry. She'd be plagued by the crime, consumed by it if she never faced any personal comeuppance. She deserved worse than to lose her children, they'd never deserved death - she'd have traded places with Lillie in a heartbeat for her children to have survived. Her reasoning, muddled as it was, gave a clear message: _'You, yourself, deserve worse.'  
_  
She did, that was irrefutable fact. She could only restate the facts so many times before they became rote and lost their meaning. Even with those facts neatly laid out (in a trance she was leading Sun to the door while processing these thoughts), they were still frolicking in the tar pit they'd created between them.

He loved her and she loved him. Hope told her that his affection was not the result of him being indebted to her or his programmed love, but pragmatism said the opposite. The Paradise complex dwarfed them and gave Lusamine a sense of vertigo she'd never before experienced at the hands of her own Paradise.

Lusamine had left her datapad on the couch, and they had only just departed from the mansion when it glowed with a message from Wicke, telling Lusamine that the police had arrived.

With his hand in her protective hold, they passed the neat row of trees leading to the Paradise while Alola held its breath in anticipation for the confrontation.

Side by side they entered the atrium, letting go of one another but both staying close together to hide in the bubble of comfort the other provided. Sun spotted Wicke first, and while he kept enough of a level head to avoid freaking out, he moved much closer to Lusamine, practically rubbing against her. She glanced down at him. "What's-"  
Sun jerked his head.

Lusamine froze at the sight. Wicke had her arms crossed, and was flanked by not one, not two, not even three, but four police officers, assumedly from the Akala station.

"No..." Lusamine breathed as Wicke pointed at her. Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry. Sun was ready to scream, to run. What if he got arrested for killing Gladion? What had Wicke told them? What was going on?

"Hello, President Lusamine," one of Wicke's retinue for the oncoming coup greeted her.


	43. A Lot Of Me is You

Wicke pointed. "Here's the President now." She didn't understand why Lusamine had brought Sun along - surely that act was one of pure stupidity. Wicke was assuming that Lusamine was responding to her message on the datapad. A janitor had found Faba's corpse swinging from one of the underground labs, and as such the 'dark' sector of the Aether Foundation followed a specific protocol before contacting anyone.

All incriminating items were hidden - all experiments were put on hold and all the elements of them were hidden in secret compartments of the labs. Every surface was rapidly scoured and every disposable document was shredded. The Silvally duo that had been out of action were now fully repaired, restored and returned to their Poké Balls, hidden away.

The police were investigating Faba's death, not Sun's case.

Sun had frozen, clinging to Lusamine's arm now, making everything all the more awkward for her. "Hello, President Lusamine," one of the police officers greeted the President. Lusamine stuttered, and Wicke wanted to say something that could stop her from making a fool of herself - or worse, incriminating herself. Wicke's new plan was not for Lusamine to go to prison as a result of her acts regarding Sun. There was still a plan to remove Lusamine from the picture without causing any harm, but the new idea meant Sun would not be in danger of prosecution either. "We assume you know why we're here?" Lusamine's lower lip quivered in panic.

"No. No, I don't." Her tone was slightly confrontational, but only very slightly. Not enough to cast suspicion on her.

"Well, we're sorry to break bad news, but..." one of the officers tapped the speaker's arm and whispered in their ear. The officer paused. "Who's the kid?" Sun flinched at being addressed.

"He- he's a visitor from Kanto." Lusamine hadn't lied, technically.

"Well, maybe he doesn't want to be around for this."

Lusamine felt cautious, but the conversation hadn't begun with her rights being read to her so that had to mean this was not as it seemed. "Um, go and play with the Pokémon for a while," she told Sun, and he quickly obliged, holding her tighter to give her some reinforcement before letting go. "I'll come and find you later," she called after him, and as she spoke he turned back to her - she shot her eyes back toward the path to her mansion.

He understood, giving a tiny little nod. She was telling him to wait there once he had the opportunity to sneak back to the mansion - he couldn't just go to her home right now in front of the authorities. Reassured by Sun's understanding she turned back to the police, and put on the mask of normalcy she kept for times like these, for sentimentality's sake. Sometimes she had to look like just a human, a person with as average a life as possible, and in the microseconds she mused over this she could see herself in the eyes of the officers, having changed her look, her hair colour, her image to reflect a return to decency that she had been unable to stick to.

"What was it, officers?" She placed her hand on her hip, trying to appear collected for the visitors.

"One of your scientists, a Mr. Faba Vicio, was found hanged in one of his labs." Lusamine did an impression of shock and horror. At this point she was desensitized to actual horror. She'd been to Ultra Space, she'd nearly been devoured by Nihilego, she'd seen her daughter suffer that fate. Psychological terror was losing its edge too - with Sun suffering so much she was hesitant to feel anything herself. It seemed unfair. "We thought you would have been informed before now, ma'am."

"No, I wasn't- what- what do you know?" Lusamine just had to act. She'd done that just fine for a long time.

"Well, we were called by the Foundation about half an hour ago to be informed of this. I'm quite curious as to how you didn't know of this occurring."

"I don't know- Wicke, why wasn't I informed of this?" Lusamine folded her arms and feigned frustrated indignation, turning to Wicke with a scowl. "I am the President! I should be the first port of call for any such tragedies!"

"Miss President, I apologise..." Wicke offered. "I should have come to you, you're right. I just- just thought to contact the authorities as soon as possible." She kept her tone genuine but the look she pointed at the President told her that Wicke wanted to add, _'And I was going to tell them about your little exploits while they were here.'  
_  
Lusamine had one more day to let him go. Just one day more with Sun, if she couldn't convince Wicke. "Wicke, you've made me look an idiot." The Vice President blinked, knowing what this could mean for her. You didn't cross Lusamine, even when she was sane. Now that she wasn't, Wicke was all the more afraid. And the Vice President knew something a little extra about the happenings the police were investigating.

"Miss President, I do sincerely apologise, a message was sent - did it not arrive?" Wicke asked. A moment ago she'd felt all the power in the world but now she thought that Lusamine could turn into a demon and murder her right here and right now, in the crossroad of light at the centre of the Paradise. She'd hoist her up on bloody claws and rip her to shreds, then turn to the police with a winning smile and all would be forgotten, the conversation continuing as normal. The President was capable of stepping around every pit, dodging every trap, outplaying every opponent and yet Wicke got the impression Lusamine never actually tried. If she tried, Wicke could only imagine the outcome.

"No, Wicke, it must not have. My apologies, officers," she said, with a slight bow. "Now, what can I do to help you in this case?" Wicke was frankly disturbed by Lusamine's coolness in the situation.

"Well," said the first speaker, and Lusamine noticed the only female officer writing on a notepad, "There is a procedure to follow in cases like these," he sighed. "A short investigation is in order, and following that, we'll be out of your hair. We do expect your full transparency on the matter, of course, and access to all areas of the Paradise."

"Of course," Lusamine said and waved her hand airily while keeping a serious expression. She was supposed to be shocked and disturbed by Faba's death, but the threat of prison was all that prevented her from smirking at recalling her choking the life from his wiry neck. "Certainly. I will accompany you if you wish."

"That would be appreciated, ma'am."

Lusamine nodded. "Wicke, can you handle the Foundation while I help our guests out with this tragedy?" The question was purely rhetorical. Wicke had spent more of the last year as acting President than Lusamine had, and most certainly hadn't been paid accordingly - however other concerns made being paid befitting the President's work pale in comparison, concerns like Sun's wellbeing. She only nodded in affirmation to the question, hoping that the President would slip up while talking to the police.

Because Wicke had seen everything. Faba had been told to put a camera up by her, because she'd predicted that Lusamine would want to fix that last piece of Sun's appearance before putting him back - make it as if he'd never left his island challenge and was never whisked away into her arms. Wicke wanted to laugh bitterly at the delusion Lusamine must be experiencing. Fixing Sun's apperance wouldn't change anything. He could have still worn white skin and green eyes and been himself.

Wicke's game had been a long one. She could only guess at some elements of Lusamine's plan, some of the things that Lusamine was accounting for and some of the things she wasn't. In the end though the plot was successful. Wicke had a recording of Lusamine committing murder.

They had been best friends. Wicke had stuck with Lusamine through thick and thin, had stayed with the Foundation for years under Lusamine's command and enjoyed the work of caring for the Pokémon until the descent into corruption had turned Lusamine into something indescribable. Wicke didn't want to betray her dearest friend but Lusamine was too far gone, had been too far gone since she'd unveiled Sun to her. It didn't matter what regrets or redemption Lusamine wished to make, the damage was done.

And Sun... Wicke had seen something in Sun the same way Lusamine had, but both of them had interpreted that thing differently. It was potential - Wicke had heard about Sun defeating the Ultra Beast and been shocked, thinking that he was destined for greatness. Lusamine had seen it and recognised power, power that she could take, draw from the source, possess the origin of and make hers.

Sun didn't deserve to be drawn into a confrontation with the law. He needed rest, he needed to recover without ever coming into contact with Lusamine again. A court case in which he had to testify against her would be impossible to manage if Sun kept on falling under her will. Wicke got the impression that Sun was himself but only when he was away from Lusamine, so them being in the same room was not ideal.

Wicke's plan had been to have Lusamine arrested for murder, not for what happened to Sun. That would keep her away long enough for Sun to recover fully - then he could make the decision to either tell the world of his story or keep it to himself until the day he died, and Wicke would ultimately respect either choice.

But Wicke had one last thing to do before she could show the police the evidence. The recording wasn't just for the sake of ensuring Lusamine's arrest. It was to help shatter the cuffs she'd put on Sun. He refused to think badly of the President, so Wicke would have to tear apart the idea of her as a loving parent before his very eyes.

She'd been standing in the centre of the Paradise atrium while mulling over the detail of her plan, ensuring all was in place. The noon light through the large windows made shadows invisible, the same way that Wicke could now destroy the shadows that had haunted the Paradise for years. She could right the wrongs of the place she loved so, and that thought gave her the strength she needed to tear apart all that Sun knew for the second time in his life.

* * *

Sun had taken a brisk walk through the conservation deck's lowest floor, ignoring the beautiful daylight shining and the sounds of artificial streams trickling, twinkling with blinking lights as they reflected the sun in shrinking and rolling waves. Fragility haunted his physical frame and his psyche, the sound of footsteps enough to make him paranoid. His grip on reality was like holding onto an ice cube. It was cold but it burned, it was slipping through his fingers but he could feel it in his palm. It was there, but he didn't know how to interpret it. He doubled back after a lap of the area, and returned to the mansion he knew so well; but one thing was out of place. A visitor.

"When is miss Lusamine coming back?"

Wicke didn't answer, looking at Sun blankly. It was unsettling him. He didn't think she meant any ill will, but was afraid.

"Sun, I have to show you something. Would you like to sit down?" She was sat on the couch in the living room, and wore a very serious expression. Was she going to tell him off for killing Gladion, or letting Lillie die? Was she even really there? he wanted to poke her to make sure but thought if she was real that would be strange. He just stayed standing. Wicke sighed. "Please, Sun. Here," she said and offered him one of the vending machine cups of Tapu Cocoa. Sun, now a little more trusting, took it and sat beside her, keeping his eyes on the lid of the cup in his hands.

Wicke had noticed him going to and from the vending machine the day before last, ordering multiple drinks and carrying them all back to the mansion, so she'd thought bringing one of them for him would put him at ease. It was the kind of thing Lusamine wouldn't pick up on because that was just too human for her to understand. Wicke had fallen into a measure of nefariousness herself, however - she'd spiked the drink with some of the cheaper painkillers the Foundation had to relax Sun if he became agitated during the conversation. It was a measure for his own good, and that made it okay, right?

"What did you want me to see?" Sun asked, taking a sip from the paper cup.

Wicke lifted her datapad and held it between them - she swept and typed on it, bringing up the file. She inhaled and sat beside Sun. "Please, Sun. This will help you understand."

Sun hugged a pillow closely, pretending it was Lusamine, having no idea what he was about to see. "What is it?"

"The President... she did this earlier." Wicke tapped the 'play' button and prayed internally that Sun would follow her logic and understand the danger the President presented. Sun watched. There was no sound. The recording had audio, but Wicke had muted it to manipulate him a little easier: if he didn't know that she was trying to protect him (in a twisted sense), he'd feel less obligated to stay.

Lusamine grabbed his coat. Sun didn't care about Faba and was watching without emotion. Wicke studied his face, his reactions. He didn't react to her shoving Faba into the desk. He also didn't react to her knocking him down beside a slight twitch in one side of his face. When he saw her push the bench over and onto him, he blinked, eyes shut for a second or two. "Keep watching, please," Wicke chided.

When she kicked the table, his twitch repeated itself, stronger. The second time, Sun flinched. It was having the desired response. Wicke felt horrible, but was doing the right thing. She was screaming at Faba now. Sun read her lips and whispered along, _"Shut up, shut up, shut up..."  
_  
Faba pointed out the camera and Lusamine at first looked shocked, defeated, shattered. Then Sun watched the murderous smile creep over her face and Wicke watched as he smiled too, hoping it was only because he was unaware of what was about to happen.

Lusamine raised one leg and stepped over the table, Sun still smiling - then his smile fell off as she clamped her hands over Faba's throat. _'Good,'_ Wicke thought. He wasn't totally lost. He looked mortified at the act now. "Wh- what is she doing?" His eyes were darting over the screen before they met hers as he asked the question.

"Please, just keep watching." He turned back to the screen with horrified curiosity.

"Why is she doing that? _Why is she-"_ Sun gasped. She was laughing as she choked him. She shoved Faba down, still smiling. "No, _why is she_ \- she wouldn't- do-" he saw her finally let go and he breathed a sigh of relief. So she didn't kill him. In Sun's mind, warped as it was, that wasn't so bad.

Then the main event, or so Wicke thought of it. This would convince him that he needed to be safe and sound somewhere far away. She felt terrible to show a child this, but knew he'd almost certainly seen worse. Wicke refrained from touching him, but wanted to comfort him somehow as he watched his 'mother' shatter Faba's neck. Sun's mouth fell open - he recoiled in his seat, leaning away in terror, making a slight whimper of fear. "No. No, she- why did she do that, why-" She could show him the fake suicide, but chose to end it there. She shut off the datapad and Sun was left looking at his reflection in the black screen. "W-why..." he said, hasty and breathy.

"The President... she may love you... but she is dangerous. I am offering you an opportunity to leave. I agree with the President. You are a blameless victim. You don't deserve to be roped into a long case. But she..." Wicke paused. Sun was crying while hugging the pillow he'd picked up tighter.

"I thought she-" Sun whimpered, "I thought she was- I thought she loved me, I thought she was good..." he gasped a breath between syllables. "I thought she was... trying to get better..." he spoke down to the cup, and gulped some of the Tapu Cocoa down.

"The President has been on this slope for a while. She lies, Sun. She tells you things to make you stay. I don't know why. Maybe she does love you, but..." Wicke patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You need better."

"Miss Wicke, we have to help her..."

"No." What did he mean, help _her?_ After what he'd seen, help _her?_ "No. She's too far gone. She was my best friend," Wicke told Sun, feeling an ache in her heart coming with the truth of the words she spoke. "She and I have known each other since twenty years ago. I have watched my friend turn from a caring and concerned mother and wife to a tyrannical and demented creature... and I can't watch her anymore." Wicke's eyes shimmered. Sun was hooked on her words. An outside perspective was not one he was used to, not after so long of being alone with Lusamine and her family. He wanted to say something, but kept quiet, letting her spin her yarn. Wicke had never had the opportunity to describe Lusamine's fall from grace and so now she let it all out, painting a picture, weaving a tapestry for Sun to follow to today.

"She didn't- didn't tell me what she was going to do to you. It was kept from me. They moved you by night, she kept you in a back room of her house to hide you from me during our meetings. She..." with Lusamine's absence the illusions she cast seemed to be similarly fading. The walls of her mansion were no longer truly white. They were grey, dirty - the web from the chandelier was only a hint of things that Sun was now seeing. The fireplace was dusty, and only one photo sat on it. The one of Lusamine, Lillie and Gladion, back when she first wore the split dress.

One of the floor tiles was cracked, a black hairline fracture that he'd never noticed.

"She had gone too far. I stayed calm with her, but I was- after she- showed you to me, I was mortified. The only reason I never told anyone is because I thought... I was afraid my best friend would do something like that to me." Wicke's voice was high with emotion. Sun kept his eyes focused on her, understanding and digesting every word. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I didn't try to help any earlier. I could have saved Gladion... and... and Lillie's gone too now, isn't she?"

Sun swallowed a ball of guilt in his throat and nodded slowly. Wicke sagged in defeat. "They were like my own children," she continued. "I loved them like- like-" she sobbed out loud and hid her head in her hands. "I'm sorry I didn't act. I'm sorry I- I didn't- know."

"We should talk to miss Lusamine, miss Wicke. We can sort out a deal- I don't want to- to just-" he still felt tied to her, that he should help her out of this inhuman pit. It was his nature, to be kind. Especially after Nihilego. They were perhaps the only two living humans on the planet to know that somewhere out there were hundreds of the things that it had taken only one of to turn the Paradise into a bloodbath.

Wicke was trying to be patient, but felt Sun didn't understand. "Sun, you- you have heard what I'm saying? The President is dangerous. I- I am too scared to- talk to her at this point." Wicke recalled how Lusamine had looked at her. _'Wicke, you've made me look an idiot.'  
_  
"But she's good, she can-"

"That woman cannot change. I have watched her fall for twenty years. She has to hit rock bottom eventually." Wicke's tone was sad, but her words had bite. She'd become too jaded by Lusamine... Samantha's acts to allow any forgiveness. "Sun, you can be free. I don't know what she did to you, but I swear on my life I will make sure you are looked after with Aether funds, I think I can see to that if I end up the new President." She spoke her plan clearly, eloquently, with none of Faba's self centred tone, none of Lusamine's conflict and cloaked anger, none of Gladion's abrasive resistance. None of Lillie's distracted, infected rage. Someone who was utterly true to their ideals, like Sun was when he was lucid.

Wicke was someone who had remained together. Even with all the chaos and violence, Wicke had done what she could, and now the question was if Sun could return to his former self without significant emotional baggage to hinder him.

"You'll... look after me?" Sun had thought Lusamine was the only one who could help him, and he'd tunnel visioned on that until he could see no other option. Now, however, Wicke was offering another way.

"Yes. I will make it my responsibility. Even if I do not become President, I will pay you from my wages. I have no family of my own. I would... make sure you're seen to." Wicke put her hand over Sun's to reassure him further. "You know how dangerous, how callous Samantha can be."

"Who?" Sun asked, but he already knew.

"The President," Wicke admitted. "She... she sort of took on a different name after losing her husband. It hurt her. It killed her, I suppose, now that I'm thinking about it." Wicke was speaking to herself more than him. The opportunity to talk about it was too great to pass up.

It was a revelation to Sun. All this time he hadn't even considered it was a fake name. "Miss Lusamine's name is... Samantha?" It didn't give him the same warm feeling as the name he'd known. Her influence dropped off, even further than it already had in the conversation. He reached over his shoulder, taking strands of blonde hair and sifting between them.

 _'A lot of me is you.'  
_  
"Yes. So, Sun, what do you say?" Wicke tried to smile, but it ended up looking painfully forced. "Please. Understand that this is over now. The President will never find you. Never hurt you again."

Sun's breath shivered. His foot tapped nervously. He was cold. "She'll... what will happen to her?" He took a sip of Tapu Cocoa.

Wicke shifted and became businesslike again, laying out all the facts. "With the footage I showed you she will be found guilty of murder." Wicke spoke the facts she had researched in case Sun should ask such a question. "The minimum sentence will be twenty-five years. She will come out of prison aged seventy-three and by then, even with her seemingly eternal youth," Wicke waved her arm as if to dismiss that idea, "will be unable to reach you. And that's the minimum. Life imprisonment is far more likely, given her trying to cover her tracks." Sun's expression hadn't changed, making it hard for Wicke to tell if he still had any sympathy for Lusamine.

"But you won't tell them about me?" Sun's throat felt hot, and not just from the Tapu Cocoa.

"No. You are far too young and too vulnerable to be wrapped up in a kidnapping, tortur-" Sun had hid his face in the pillow he was hugging, and Wicke got the message to stop. "Sorry. But the press, the news, the psychiatrists... and even with all that, you'd have to be together with her in some cases, and that's where she could creep back into you." Wicke took a deep breath. The room was still, evening light filtering in cautiously, anxious to avoid disturbing the two in the midst of the most important decision in Sun's life. But there was no decision, was there? He took another sip of the Tapu Cocoa. He was free now. While miss Lusamine had tried to be good, she was still very violent. He mulled it over.

"Will you still let me tell the police if I want to?"

"Certainly, but be aware, if you do that you incriminate everyone here. The Foundation can recover from the President's absence. It cannot recover from your story. Nobody will want to visit. All the families, tourists, they'll be terrified, it'll haunt them that these things happened while they were going about their vacations." Wicke spoke with a heavy heart. The Foundation was a great place, or had been before it was home to an annex of secrets and experiments. It would be a great blow to say goodbye, now after so long of nurturing it.

Sun thought. All the Pokémon of the Paradise would be abandoned. They'd take away Silvally, and the clones when he got them back. He didn't want Silvally to be hurt. "Okay."

"So you'll leave? And let me put away the President?" Wicke asked.

Sun thought of Lusamine coming back from speaking to the police. _She sat beside him, saw his fear and concern, motioned to him. 'Come here, baby.' She beckoned him to her embrace and he entered it, he felt good. He purred. Lusamine patted his head and he wanted more but didn't say it. She got a message from Wicke. Sun knew that meant he had to sneak away while Lusamine went to speak to the police. He sneaked in a request for a kiss, and she, with a sad smile, obliged him, and that was goodbye._ He'd never see her again, not in person.

The fantasy was short-lived. Sun wanted a better goodbye than that. His foot was tapping at a faster pace, and his breathing was hastening. He was entering a trance. The drugs Wicke had given him were kicking in. She'd intended for them to placate him, but she didn't know what had been done to him. When his love was being programmed they'd drugged him, relieved him of the pain and exposed him to media of Lusamine to associate her with the relief and the ecstasy, giving that effect whenever he saw her, heard her voice, felt her presence. Ketamine was one of the drugs they'd used. It so happened that the 'cheap painkiller' Wicke used and the drug to program his love were one and the same.

Sun was thinking of her. He was thinking of the rush he got, the calm, the storm, the light, the dark, the love, the hate. He needed her. He needed a fix or he'd never survive. It only made sense to-

"Sun?" Wicke asked, waiting for his response.

-not leave, because he had to have this, he had to stay - he could help her get better, he believed he could: she was a paranoid, scared and defensive woman and that was all she was. She wasn't a monster, at least, not anymore, she had a human side that she showed him. She was tender, loving, kind, beautiful... he imagined looking up into her face and his thoughts grew foggier with bliss as her gaze lowered onto him with a slowness, purposeful in the act of viewing him, observing him with affection the likes of which he thirsted for from her.

"Mother..." he whispered aloud. Wicke had some trepidation about him saying it, but kept quiet. He had severe issues to work through. "I..." he was imagining her there, in front of him, and stuck his arm out. The pillow fell out of his hold and onto the floor. The action concerned Wicke.

"Sun?"

"Yes, I'm... I'm yours. I'm..." he felt her hand push his chin up, tickle his neck with an elegant fingertip and he giggled. "No. I would never. Never, ever." She put her hands on either side of his face and kissed his forehead - he wanted more - and the image in his head wasn't stopping to say it wasn't right, she was moving down to kiss his lips, eyes shut as she bore down on him with an exciting slowness, Sun sliding his eyes shut-

"Sun?"

Wicke's call brought him back to reality. He was confused for a moment, then felt even more vulnerable, becoming defensive. "I'm not... not crazy," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, each hand on the opposite shoulder, rocking back and forth. "I just... I'm not. I'm not."

"I didn't say you were." Wicke had to keep the conversation easygoing and somewhat casual, and was finding it difficult without extensive knowledge of Sun's behaviours. She'd minded Sun, Gladion and Lillie together for a short while but he was still a mystery in many aspects. "But do you have an answer for me?" Wicke's heart already was heavy. His affliction was visibly restraining him from acting, but he just needed to say the words and she could take care of his dark past once and for all.

"Um... I want to see miss Lusamine..." Sun muttered, rocking faster. The drug in his system combined with his internal association of the high to her was having the wrong result. He was wanting to stay now. If Wicke hadn't let the little blip of drugging Sun cross her mind he may have already answered. "I want to- I wanna see- I- miss Wicke, can you take me to her?"

Wicke shook her head. "Sun, the... the power she has over you, you'll just want to stay. You know that being near her is bad for you. And what if one day you do something she doesn't like? She could kill you, like Faba." Sun shook his head rapidly in response.

"No, she won't hurt me." He was rocking even faster now, shivering. "I need to see her. I need to-"

"Sun, you can't!" Wicke only raised her voice out of exasperation. He had to understand. "Sun, if you go to her, you'll lose yourself again." She was worried about all aspects of Sun's health. He was violently shivering, and Wicke leaned forward to pick up some of the blankets scattered around the couch from where Sun made his home among them earlier in the day. Dragging one over him she heard him purr and felt a nearly violent desire to protect him from the monster she once called her friend.

"Mother," Sun begged, hiding in the duvet. "Oh- oh Arceus..."

Wicke had no idea what to do. She tried to pull the duvet back so she could speak to him face to face, but Sun clutched it and wailed pathetically as she tugged. "Sun, you have to-"

"Mother?" Sun kicked the duvet halfway across the room. He stared at Wicke with round and affectionate eyes, disturbing her slightly. "Mother, I'm sorry I've been so... so silly... I love-"

"Sun," Wicke interrupted, trying to get through whatever episode he was having to make him rational again. "I am not-"

All her words fell on deaf ears - Sun was hallucinating again, thinking that Wicke was Lusamine. Sun was currently of a singular mind, a mind that wanted to be comfy against her and cuddle and be entirely dependent on her. He hadn't felt this strongly about Lusamine since the first days after his transformation. The ket had unbalanced him.  
Sun moved across the couch and hooked his arm through hers, leaning against her with a blissful smile. Wicke tried to push him away.

"Mother? What are you-"

"I am not Lusamine!" Wicke told him, again trying not to raise her voice too loudly.

"No. You're... um... you're Samantha. Miss Wicke told me." Something about it made Wicke feel liquid nitrogen replace her blood. She'd done one little bad thing, drug Sun. Was this how her friend's snowball effect had begun? Just a little thing, for the best?

"No, Sun, you're seeing things, I'm Wicke. I'm trying to tell you-"

"But you said you'd make me better," he whined. "You told me, you promised."

"I can, if you leave." Wicke kept a level head, trying to turn him back onto real life and out of the rut of delusion he was in. "If you leave, I can help you get better."

"But you didn't want me to-" he seized up, his muscles contracting. It looked like he was having a seizure, and Wicke helped him sit up properly. "You didn't- didn't want me to go..."

"Sun, can you hear me? Do you need help?" Wicke was ready to take him to a doctor, forget incriminating herself, Lusamine and not getting Sun involved in the case. The boy needed help. "Sun, talk to me-"

"Oh Arceus, oh no, I need- I-" his agitation at being apart from Lusamine, the drugs, the side effects of ketamine, the relation it had to his condition, they were sending him on a downward spiral.

"Okay, Sun, I'm going to help you up and we'll go and find a doctor-" Wicke was cut off as Sun screamed. He was trying to tune out, sitting stiffly, a rising whine in his ears like tinnitus, reminiscent of Nihilego's touch. His focus was beginning to waver like a heat haze, shifting and glimmering, crashing into itself. He covered his ears and shut his eyes.

Sun was thinking about how he killed Gladion. He killed Gladion because he thought that Gladion was going to come between him and his mother. He had to cling to that relationship - it was all he had now. Wicke was proposing suicide. She wanted to take him away from all he had, and her offers of a new life were too scary, too much - he couldn't do that! He couldn't start over, he had to hold on, had to stay-

Sun's schizophrenic state enhanced the negative side effects of being drugged further, and his agitation spiked. Heat bristled in his neck, feeling vomit sticky in his throat, not quite bringing it up. He looked at his hands, and saw them white. Like hers. Why was Wicke trying to take him away? He belonged here, right here. Only here.

 _'I'm me. But a lot of me is you.'  
_  
Lusamine's penchant for violence, something that Aether Sun had shared but was scared by, began to boil. If Wicke wanted to take him away he'd hurt her. He wasn't going. He wasn't. Wicke was Wicke again, not Lusamine - he was so confused, wasn't Lusamine here? Hadn't she been right there with him? Sun made a strained noise, his larynx spasming off of accidental reflex.

"Sun. Stand up now, please, we'll get you some help."

Sun's ears popped. His earlier impressions of the house had changed. It wasn't a dull grey, it was a searing, bright white, painful to observe, vicious on the eyes. The split in the floor tile was a gaping chasm of planet-cracking proportions. The light filtering in hissed like toxic gas, ready to encircle his body and suffocate him if he left. And Wicke loomed over him, ready to drag him out there and post him up for doctors who thought he was crazy to poke and prod and probe while the curling clouds of corrosion choked him.

 _'I can only trust me.'  
_  
 _'A lot of me is you.'  
_  
His skin looked light. He could see his reflection in Wicke's glasses and his eyes were green. He'd missed that look. Missed being perfect. Sun stood. He'd killed Gladion, it was his fault Lillie was dead. Lusamine was all he had left, and she'd adopted him for a reason. To look after him. She was trying to stop him from ruining anything. Sun was insane. He was thinking all wrong, in every matter.

So something about this state and what he'd seen and what he'd done made him think one final, total thought that was the last of the mechanical swords that would plunge into his skull to rape his mind and turn him into a creature like Lusamine.

The perfect son, her younger expy, violent, crazed, paranoid, attached to a fault, full of love, full of hate.

He stood up slowly and sighed, wearing a bright and breezy smile.

"Are you feeling better?"

Sun killed her.

* * *

Lusamine made her way back to her mansion. Sure, the cops had sweated her, and sure she was nervous, but it wasn't like the conversation had implied she was going in the can. It was a typical investigation. They'd pointed out some strange discrepancies but not enough for them to suspect her or anyone else at the Foundation - ultimately the coroner's report would be the most important.

"Stay calm. Just tell him there's nothing to worry about, give him a hug..." she brushed her hair aside with one hand as she walked, her pace slightly faster than usual. She hoped he'd managed without her. She was thinking about what they could have to eat, maybe she'd try cooking again. It had been something like... seven years since she'd touched a pot, pan or any cooking utensil. She'd even collected the Silvally clones - he'd be happy to see them, for sure.

Arceus. The cops had shaken her, but it'd be fine. Cops were stupid. They couldn't notice missing kids five feet away from them. Huffing with mirth at that thought, she brushed her hair again. Her pace grew ever faster. Sun needed her.

She pushed the door to her home open.

The blood was so thick she could taste it from the second she walked in.


	44. Samantha, Gladiolus, Lillian, Sol

While alone with the body Sun had shut down, like he had when the torture had carved apart his brain. He'd been lying on his side and staring at the messy results of his work when the break had happened, and the information it processed was simple.

 _'You have killed another human being.'  
_  
Being tortured by the phrase endlessly bleating in his mind, forced into a catatonic state by his indefatigable mental collapse, he struggled to form a new coherent thought beyond mere guilt. He had to stop this from happening ever again. And there was a pattern to his killings. They only happened when he was away from his 'mother.'

 _'You cannot do this again.'  
_  
Sun had to either accept his new state of being or lose himself to guilt. He had to be her son. He had to be close to her or there would be hell to pay for those around him. He would be her son, even with all his memories, even with the loathing he had for her, even with the little parasitic piece of her in his mind taking hold the longer he spent with her. He'd do whatever he had to for her, if only because if he didn't, he was dangerous, and that was the last thing he wanted to be.

But who was _he?  
_  
How much of him was her? He had said 'a lot', but he hadn't expected there to be enough to make him think like this, in these terms. He was thinking in, _'we have to get away with this,'_ where Sun would have thought, _'I have to face the consequences of this.'  
_  
He screamed into the wall, praying that she wouldn't dispose of him, that she'd forgive him for this betrayal of her trust. He would do whatever it took to ensure that he didn't hurt another person, ever - and considered they were truly not so different any longer. He'd been appalled to see her killing Faba, but at least she'd kept it clean. His work was bloody and vicious and that made it worse - he was _worse than her.  
_  
Sun had nothing else. He couldn't be himself and he wasn't what he had been. He was dangerous alone and the woman who'd abused and tortured him was the only person who cared, and whether or not that care was even genuine was still up in the air.

While consumed by regret, while horrified by the act he had performed, Sun finally accepted that he was not who he had been before being kidnapped and knew it was time to let go of the past. Lusamine was a disease that had eaten Samantha and part of Lusamine was in him now too, he knew, he could see it. It had gone too deep into him and he had been fighting it. He had stopped fighting it in that moment, alone with the dead body of the Aether Foundation's Vice-President, and let it take hold.

Sun felt hyper-sensitive. There was too much around him, the light was blinding and made him strike out in fear. Everything bled like his hearing, which was gone with his sight, his touch too powerful, too receptive.

He put his arms up, lacing his hands on the back of his head and lay down on his side with his elbows pointed outward, head tucked in. "Oh... oh Arceus... I- I'm sorry... but I have to..."

The last apology to Lillie, to Gladion, to Hau and to his biological mother before he consciously chose to ignore they ever existed so he could take the easy route to happiness. He didn't want to work through this. He wanted the fastest way to be happy, and that was letting Lusamine, his captor, his abuser, into his heart. That thought alone told him he was doomed. Sun Elio was no more. The past was dead: figuratively and literally. His mother, his pre-Alola life, was dead. Lillie, Gladion and Hau, his Alolan friends, were dead. Wicke, someone who had offered him another way out, a way to put Lusamine away for what she'd done and go on living his life, was dead.

Wicke could've been the parental figure he wanted. She was throwing him one final lifesaver and he'd decided to murder her in a fit of psychosis.

The past was a rotting carcass. The shadow of the future was all that remained, and the present was too hard to think about. Sun felt sick knowing what he was about to demand, about to become. Hers, all hers. The sounds in his head were slow and ethereal, enough to know that this was reality, this was life.

* * *

Lusamine, upon returning, had assessed the situation in moments. She'd stepped inside, shut the door behind her and started to think. There was no time for her to speak before Sun was protesting to her. He was curled up in a corner with bloodshot eyes and a running nose.

"Mother... don't- don't panic- don't get rid of me, please, please..." his shakes were amplified to a whole new degree, not just the uncontrollable tremors of love but also adrenaline and fear. _"Please..."  
_  
She felt that she had only two choices from here.

Put Sun out of his misery, or still boldly and resolutely stand in the face of reality, spit at it and continue to try and help him as it did all it could to undo him. The second option was a disguised version of 'keep him.'

She couldn't hurt Sun, so she picked the latter. Since her entry, he'd pushed himself up onto his backside, arms supporting him, leaning away from the scene he'd created in horror, pulling himself away from the slowly expanding pool of blood. Lusamine would never forget his expression when he met her eyes.

It was fundamentally shattered; his eyes wide, the pained red veins of his blue orbs visible even across the room, acidic tears singing the corners of his eyes and salty streaks running down his cheeks. His breathing was the sound of a chugging engine, deep and crackling, inconsistent. He was tense, all his muscles stiff with fear. Just that look told Lusamine nothing could be the same. There would be changes in their interaction. There would be more and more hurt to come, but she'd be there for him.

Sun's knuckles gleamed with thick, reflective blood, while his hands were less drenched but still wet with red. Shoes red, trousers crimson where he'd stomped. Handprints where he'd cradled himself back and forth, streaks of death in his hair, on his skin. If he didn't look so mortified he'd appear bloodthirsty.

"M-mother, I'm so- so sorry, I didn't mean to do it- I didn't mean to hurt her, I just- I-" Lusamine glanced over Wicke's broken body, postponing the grief for a time more appropriate. "Mother, I know I was bad, but- I- I won't hurt anyone else. I promise. I- please, don't get rid of me. Please." Lusamine kneeled at the edge of the pool of blood and whispered something Sun didn't hear. "No, mother. No. I love you. Please don't. I love-"

Lusamine finally looked up, and her face was lined with fury. _"SHUT UP, SUN!"_ He went quiet besides a little whimper of fear. _**"SUN, YOU-"**_ she brushed stray hair away from her left eye and calmed herself. "Be quiet. Calm down." She wanted to apologise for snapping, but didn't. Taking control of the situation was important.

Lusamine licked her lips, her mouth having gone dry in seconds at the scene. Her eyes darted over the room, the corpse, Sun, where her gaze lingered, softening with pity as he met her eyes. Earlier she'd thought herself desensitised to horror, and this was proof. She'd seen Wicke's corpse and hadn't felt repulsed or scared, only sad.

"I need to think," she told Sun, who had been watching her intently, looking for any sign that he was about to be abandoned. At the statement he averted his gaze, bringing his knees to his chest and rocking slightly. "I need to..." she stood up straight again. "First, what happened? Does anyone know she's here?"

"N-no," Sun said, speaking into his knees. "She- she came in to show me something-" he coughed on his breath and shivered, rocking faster, glancing to his left and scratching his neck anxiously.

"What did she want to show you?" Lusamine asked. She tried to say it offhand, but it still had a suspicious edge she couldn't hide.

"Um..." Sun met her eyes but looked away quickly. Lusamine interpreted it correctly as him being furtive.

"Whatever it was, I need you to tell me." She crossed the pool of blood, taking a big stride over the ruined corpse and sitting beside Sun. Sun refused to look at her now, crying. He extended his legs outward, where they almost touched the blood. Lusamine watched him, concerned.

"I don't-" Sun began and fell quiet again, choking between sobs. "It was all me, there's something wrong with me... I'm a murderer now..." Lusamine moved her hand slowly, like you may toward an unfamiliar Pokémon - reaching around to massage his shoulder.

"Baby... it..." she wanted to say it was okay, but this was stark proof he didn't need Nihilego to kill anymore. He only needed her. He'd been talking about becoming her, a second Lusamine. She had always thought of Sun as this soft, sweet boy, but whenever she was out of the way these things happened... going back as far as him sneaking downstairs to watch her sleeping, him killing Gladion, now Wicke... Sun was far more than what she thought he was.

He was still absolutely vulnerable. The way he was sitting told her that: he hadn't wanted to do this by any means. She had to stop his decay. Sun wouldn't become a constant reminder of her moment of ultimate evil. He had to go on as himself, she had to cut herself out of his brain... and there was a way she could, she realised, but she couldn't put it into practice now.

"Sun, you've got to... got to go..." her voice was gravelly and low, unusual for her, as she ruminated on where to go from here. "Wherever I'm going when this is discovered, you can't come too."

"No," he denied, shaking his head. His fringe was damp with sweat, and was clinging to his forehead, looking like he was coming off a bad high. The events they'd been through felt like a bad high - maybe they were? Maybe Lusamine had just had a midlife crisis, done a mountain of energy powder and would wake up beside her husband. "No, I can't go. I have to," he put his hands together and raised them as if begging. "I have to stay. Don't- we can- we can fix this."

"What?" Lusamine asked. "You- Sun, I have to face what's coming to me at this point." Lusamine had finally had enough of the bullshit. She was ready to give it all up. She had been when facing the cops down, ready to let it all go if she had to.

"No!" As she withdrew her arm from massaging him he grabbed her wrist, holding her arm close to his chest awkwardly. "No, you don't, you can't! If you go, I'll go crazy, I swear, I will- you know what you did to me more than I do." He took a breath and continued. "No. We've already covered up so much. We've already done so much." He peered up into her face, arresting her attention, her emerald eyes dead set in the blank look of someone having the poison of deception poured into their ear. "What's one more? Why can't we cover up one more?"

Sun had to show her his new point of view. It was one where he ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran from the past. Where nothing that had happened mattered. Where he was her son again, and she'd never done anything bad, never, he'd never- he could feel it, one of those episodes he had been having, he didn't know if he was breathing, was he- _was he breathing?_ Was he here or was he there numb or no _no no no_ \- he dug his fingernails into the ground beside him, scraping, scritching, finding the sensation too loud, too strong. The arm moved to wrap over Lusamine's in a similar way to the first.

Lusamine thought about what he was saying. He was right - why was Wicke's death, one that she was not complicit in, the harbinger of her comeuppance? It was not as if she would be willing to face jail time for Faba's death. It was why she had bothered to cover it up. She would be going to prison for something she didn't do, and would be putting Sun at risk. Sun was the real killer, and if she didn't cover this up then he, of all people, could be convicted. He was right. "What's one more?" Lusamine breathed, repeating what Sun had said.

"Yes, mother. If we stick together, we'll never hurt anyone again, I know that. I know that- you didn't want to kill Faba." As he spoke he run his hands up and down her arm, clinging to it, stroking it as if it was a lifeline. He had his head against her bare skin, lips against her upper arm.

Lusamine shot a glare at him. "How- how do you know-"

"Miss Wicke recorded it, she was going to turn you in and take me away. She showed me to turn me against you, but- but I know that you must have- must have done it to protect me, I know that." Sun was clinging to hope. He hadn't listened back to the recording to get proof of this - it was conjecture. The ket in his system was still in. He was back to being high on her too, and the two mixed relatively well - he hadn't lost his mind yet. He brushed his damp hair out of his eyes and continued. "She had it on a datapad."

"Give it to me," Lusamine demanded. Loose ends would not be permitted. It was time for them to wrap it all up and wash their hands clean.

Sun's face twitched. "I can't."

"What?"

Sun gestured and Lusamine saw broken glass and a flat white surface scattered under the coffee table near the sofa. "I was afraid you'd think something stupid," his voice took a harsh tone, "So I did what I had to do to stop that."

"You destroyed the evidence?" What a precocious boy.

"Yes."

"And this isn't recorded anywhere else?"

"Not that I know," he fired back quickly. His eyes seemed to be bulging and narrow at the same time. "I wouldn't let you turn yourself in." He muttered it in a voice too rough. "I wouldn't."

Lusamine put her hand to her mouth. Her thumb touching the left corner, her knuckles in the middle of her lips - her fingers pointed downward. She was thinking fast. "Right." She was forgetting that she deserved worse and while not saying it out loud wanted to thank Sun for preventing her from doing anything ridiculous that could get them both into trouble.

"Mother, we can get away with it all." Both of his hands were now wrapped over her right wrist, rubbing his head up and down her upper arm like she was a towel for his stress. "You can have what you wanted. A fresh start. I _know_ that's what you wanted. That's _why_ you took me. You can _have_ me." The words registered as wrong, all wrong, but he didn't do anything to stop them from being spoken.

His words had more truth to them than her own discombobulated mind could ever tell her. Her skin was becoming damp where he was rubbing, sweat clinging to her in kind. She felt numb. Numb at turning her back on the 'correct' path again and doing whatever it took, climbing over all the bodies and limbs in the way to see another day as a free woman... with the boy beside her. She knew that this couldn't be his free will, that he'd changed, there was something wrong. "Sun, why are you..."

"I can't be without you. You can make me better," he breathed, and he could feel that his head was completely empty of Sun Elio and was full of Sun _Elsa-Mina._ "You... you and me... we can help each other. I want to help you. I can't go back to the islands alone, not in my... condition," on the word 'condition' he could almost feel the swell of sickness in his skull like an abscess. "When I'm not with you... I hurt people... I go crazy. I _need_ ," he extended the word need into eternity, "to be here."

Lusamine could hear Sun disassociating beside her. He slurred and sighed, hissed and whispered - he was speaking like the metaphorical devil on her shoulder, the angel absent as always. He was speaking through his breath, in inhalations and exhalations.

"No, Sun... it's not right... don't you want to be free-" Lusamine extended her arm to sweep the 'horizon', but in truth just indicated the pool of blood and the corpse in its centre. She was giving him one last chance to turn back.

"I can be here... _and_ be free if you just let me," Sun argued. "I'll be here for you. Imagine, mother," he said, his voice rasping, not sounding like himself at all, "Imagine, you go free, like I know you can, if you just cover this up. I leave this place. How long... how long before you find someone else like me? How long before someone else becomes what I am? You can't stick to reforming. Not without me. And when I'm without you..." he trembled, a shiver like someone had injected antifreeze into his spine. "I go wrong... it's what's best for us both. I don't want to hurt anyone... and you just wanted to be," he sucked in air through his teeth, _"Loved."  
_  
There was a pulsation of pure fucking evil. Lusamine could feel it emanating from Sun. He didn't give a shit about anything anymore - he'd given up. He was selfish, he wanted things for himself, he wanted to control things and get away with things and take and take and take.

He had become her. It was too late. Everything she'd done had broken him.

Lusamine couldn't see Sun's expression but it was stony, the same kind of glare that she had worn when looking down on him after striking him down before his transformation. "I can change... get better... without you," Lusamine said and the flat tone of her voice made Sun giggle.

"You don't believe that." He said it with his lips against her skin, kissing her arm as she spoke.

Lusamine ditched the idea of total reform at the penetrating truth of his comment. She had a chance to make it all worthwhile and have what she'd always wanted from him - his mind, body and soul, as her new son. "What would you have me do?" She pulled her arm away from him and he mewled in protest until he felt that same arm rest over his shoulder and begin to play with his hair. She was seeing the sense in his point of view. Why did Wicke's death change their situation? She'd had Sun's biological mother killed, hadn't sought repentance. She'd ordered the destruction of Kukui's laboratory, hadn't thought twice. Covered up that Sun had killed Gladion, didn't blink. Concealed Lillie's death, and was continuing to do so. Murdered Faba with her bare hands, laughed about it.

So why was Wicke's death the one that changed things?

"Whatever you have to. To make sure this never happens again... and that we stay together." Sun still had his morality. He didn't want there to be any more death. He hadn't felt this... happy, this calm, since he'd been nursing Lusamine on the floor of the upstairs bathroom as Aether Sun. His perception had changed so much... the murder didn't even matter.

Lusamine found her focus again. She had to cover this up. Then she and Sun could be together, like she needed now. He was right. She couldn't be alone. He needed her and she needed him. "Sun, I'll handle this."

He smiled. "Good..." he shut his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall. "...mother."

"You need to get cleaned off. Go and take a shower in my room, I'll bring you down a change of clothes, we'll get rid of the old ones." Sun was nodding along with her plan as she spoke it. "Go now. I'll see to the mess."

 _"Thank you,"_ he whispered, leaning over to her and hugging her waist, spreading blood onto her dress. "I can't be without you."

"We'll see," Lusamine said, somewhat uneasy at his newfound insistence to stay. While what he said made sense, at least in the realm of her strange and seemingly unending psychotic, cryonic fever dream, she couldn't help but feel that she was being led astray by him.

This simply couldn't all be real at this point. She'd counted the time in her head, and it had been almost a full year. A year in which everything had exploded. Now she couldn't handle the idea of keeping him, of being haunted by the last living proof of her guilt, who was basking in her acts as if he now believed she had saved him from reality. "Go, get cleaned up." She needed him out of her sight.

"Yes, mother." Lusamine opened her mouth to admonish him for calling her that but she knew that this was her future. Sun paused before he entered her room. "I- I'm sorry about Wicke. B-but..."

Lusamine didn't understand where he could go with this. Defend himself for killing her? Say it was necessary? "But what?"

"We can move on now, right? Nobody's left to take us apart?" The madness in his face was receding now - his eyes looked less large and fearful, his body trembled less. Lusamine noted again how his hair was encircling him very gradually, much like hers. She still hadn't given him the drug that'd turn his hair black again - the two needles in their black cases were still on the arm of her couch.

She nodded to him. "We can move on now." Sun licked his lips. She couldn't tell if he was nodding or if it was his body shaking with adrenaline. He departed into her room and closed the door behind him. The moment the door was closed she sighed quietly, blinking at the blinding white ceiling. She'd been so... ready to give it all up. Something had to be done about the monster she'd become. What Sun was offering had potential to save them both, but the key word was potential. There was no guarantee it would work, no guarantee that it wouldn't make them spiral deeper into their furthest and darkest recesses of their own animalistic natures.

But before she could consider any of that, first of all she had to dispose of the body, and in a timely manner too - the police were still on the Paradise and could barge in at any moment. She couldn't make this look like a suicide, Sun's bludgeoning and the level of gore were too great to make this look like anything but the work of a madman.  
After the initial shock of the scene she was now only seeing what needed to be covered up and what needed to be done to remain a free woman. It was clinical, a type of calm Sun had inspired in her. It kept her from overreacting.

"Arceus, Wicke... I'm so sorry." Wicke had been the fourth person to hold her children aside from herself, her husband and the midwives. They'd met in Kalos, in university, and had become inseparable. They'd spent gruelling all-nighters together doing Foundation work and fighting legal battles with other institutions like Team Plasma, seeking to 'liberate' the Pokémon from their care.

Now she was dead, and it was all the fault of Lusamine's twisted machinations, her layered and dizzying plans. The longer Lusamine struggled to become better, fighting herself to the bitter end, the faster the deaths came, one after another, a gatling gun accelerating as it spit hellfire in a deafening volley. Now the sights were almost certainly square over her or Sun - there was nobody else left to block the shredding anger of fate's chosen weapons, herself, Sun, Nihilego.

"I didn't mean for it to come to this. There's- I couldn't have predicted... I should've listened." Lusamine hadn't moved at all while delivering her apology to the corpse. Wicke did not look peaceful in death, nobody had. Lusamine wondered if her friend had struggled against whatever Sun did to cause the mess, as he hadn't seemed hurt himself.  
Some of the sheets he'd cloaked himself in earlier were spattered with blood, and Lusamine knew what to do with those. Meditating on how exactly she should go about covering up Sun's murder a little longer, she went to go into her room to prepare for the act only to remember Sun was probably undressing in there.

She sat on a clean part of the white floor, and removed the crystal that kept her hair locked in the style she'd made iconic, letting it flow more naturally before putting it back up in a more controlled manner. She considered cutting her hair shorter as she'd only grown it longer after losing her husband, and she was now trying to go back to the mindset of before the accident. Removing her heels and putting her head in her hands she took a deep breath. Stood up.

Lusamine laid out one of the blankets on the ground, ignoring the stain of blood spreading across the white from where it had been placed over the still-growing pool. A plan would be to cover the corpse in the sheets, wrap it up and then wait for an opportunity to dispose of it. She was hardly feeling anything at the coldness of this calculated coverup plot - there was the familiar voice of regret in her ear, but it wasn't as loud as it should have been.

The crawling, insectoid sickness of what she was doing was there, but it just wasn't enough to make her feel anything more than numb. She was stuck in her own headspace where her conscience, this beaten and hazed partner that she'd carried through life, had finally found its way to a vantage point from which to scream that she deserved to suffer more. Even though it had managed to break through, it had been Sun who had seduced her into ignoring it once more.

Cover it all up. Don't acknowledge it. Don't change. Let it fester. Let it grow, like a cancer. As always, do whatever it is you will. You are a loving and beautiful person and all you do is for the greater good of the future. Lusamine kept these detached, psychopathic thoughts as she set right back to work.

Sun had an overwhelming sense of relief, of happiness. He knew what the right thing to do was - to take responsibility. But it wasn't him. He hadn't been in control. For him to take responsibility for what Lusamine had made him into would be to incriminate Lusamine similarly. While he couldn't explain to himself why it was that he didn't want to get her into trouble, he knew he didn't. Sure, after leaving Ultra Space he'd wanted to leave Aether Paradise and go back to his challenge, but that was before even he knew he was unwell.

If Lusamine was what he had to hold on to for him to never hurt anyone, then he would. He knew the danger of doing that. Sun understood, or at least thought he did, that what he was doing was for the best and even then recognised it may not be the best for him personally. Sun only hoped that if Lillie, Gladion and Hau could still see him that they'd understand why he was doing this.

Not to be with her. Not at all. Not for a second. For certain. He wasn't doing this for her. He was sure.

And yet... as she came back into the room, eyes low with exhaustion, covered in dark blood, his heart still fluttered. Even with all the things wrong with the image. He knew what it was called: _'Stockholm Syndrome,'_ but he _didn't_ have it. This was just what had been programmed into him. He still felt sorry for her: she'd lost everything and half of it had been his fault, but she'd made him that way. It was dizzying to think about.

It was far easier to think of her in familiar and comfy terms that weren't sour or bitter but were sweet instead. "Mother?" He was expressing the concern he felt at seeing her tiredness.

"Sun." She gripped one of the posts on her bed, clinging to it for support. Sun went to help her but she brushed him off - only now did he notice the dark and fluid mass of her hair was not in its usual style. "I'm okay," she managed. "I need to get cleaned up now too."

Sun had already washed off and changed his clothes to a clean copy of what his Aether form had always worn. It felt like besides his hair the clothes were a reminder that kept that part of him close, kept it safe. He'd been disgusted by his acts while he was Aether Sun, but he didn't want to destroy who he had been like Lusamine had destroyed Samantha.

He wasn't like that. Even with that little piece of Lusamine inside him, he- wasn't quite in charge- was in charge. Even when he could feel it reaching out and try to make him do things, strange things, things he wouldn't do, he could hold it back. Right now, it was trying to mak(ing) him say-

"Will you make me look like you again?"

Lusamine's eyes focused on him, searching him. Flitting up and down. "Of course not, honey." Her words were a sigh, and she rubbed her eyes with the free hand not holding onto the bedpost, smearing a little blood over her cheek. Sun could sense that she wanted to lie down and comprehend the day's events, but he'd asked the wrong question. Even as what little was left of the pure Sun tried to fool itself into thinking it had control, Lusamine's pet spoke up again.

"Can you?"

Now she looked a bit more awake.

"What?" Lusamine took a wobbling step back. "Why?"

"If I'm going to stay I have to look like you, right?" She could see it in him. Not Nihilego. Herself. She'd never wanted him to emulate her psychology, only her physiology. The intention was to create the idealised version of herself, something that would love her but not become her. A project to combine her personal perfection, or what she'd seen as perfect at the time, with a more capable mind than her own. She had subconsciously recognised the slope she was on and thought that he could fix it through loving her and teaching her to be the right version of herself: as it stood, she'd only corrupted him and his appearance.

"No, Sun. You don't have to look like me. We can explain it to everyone now, that I adopted you-"

"Mother, we're not telling the poli-" Sun began, his hands closing into fists instantly.

"No, I didn't mean the police! I meant that I'll make it look official." Lusamine was scared by the intensity of Sun's voice - when he'd said 'we're not telling' it had almost sounded like he was angry at her. The kind of angry that had made him kill her son and her friend. Sun's voice had become unusually deep, his eyes wide with fury at the notion of Lusamine telling anyone the truth. She was a prisoner of her own deceit. Sun wouldn't allow her to speak a word of it. "Sun, if you truly want to be together, then..."

Sun didn't know where he was or what he was doing, only that being near Lusamine was good for him. It just had to be. "Mother, you can just make me look like you again. It'll be fine."

"I don't want to," Lusamine explained. "I don't want to. It was wrong. I was wrong."

"No," Sun argued incessantly. "You were right. You were setting me fre-"

"Don't be stupid," Lusamine interrupted sharply, but was unsettled by his argument. "Pretending I was any kind of right- what's gotten into you?"

Sun glared, and his voice was rough. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Just... just let me take a shower," she muttered, averting her exhausted eyes. The act of hiding Wicke's body had drained her emotionally. "Please." She was in charge. Why she was begging Sun for permission, she didn't know.

"Let me come."

This was disturbing. This was too wrong to ignore. "Why?" She had wanted to say, 'what the fuck,' but was too tired to argue in such terms. The day's mental gymnastics had worn on her like a grindstone on the spin, spitting sparks and buzzing her down with a nasty metallic hiss.

"I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm not going to kill myself in the shower, Sun."

He stared.

"Sun, I'll be fine."

He was still staring. Sun stood up off of where he was sitting on the bed. With her heels off, he was only a couple of inches shorter than her, but it felt like they were on even ground - or worse that Sun was taller than her, staring down on her judgmentally. The last thing she needed was for Sun to judge her. The only person who knew, who understood, who could fix her.

 _"Mother..."_ he wasn't aggressive in how he did it, but he reached out with one hand and softly placed it over the one on the bedpost. "This is it now. We have to trust each other. If we can't, then... what can we do?"

Lusamine felt an oncoming tremble and tensed her body desperately to avoid showing her fear at his behavior. It didn't work - she shivered. Sun's face turned from neutral to one of concern. His thumb stroked back and forth over her fingers. He had nothing to threaten her with but violence, and she could hold her own in that regard. What exactly scared her she didn't know. Sun hadn't stopped staring at her. He'd hardly blinked.

"F... fine," she whispered. "Fine."

Sun smiled. "I'll be perfect for you. You just look after me."

Lusamine regretted it all. Too much of her was inside him. It was the same abuse. The same, the same, the endless cycle. Now she knew that Sun would grow up to be just like her, not the cute, innocent boy she'd admired him for being. "Okay," she agreed quietly.

Sun followed her into the en-suite bathroom and sat on the sink awkwardly as Lusamine stripped off. He put his hands together and swung his legs back and forth in little arcs below the sink. Before she removed her underwear she stopped and looked at him. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you. I just want you."

 _'I don't want anything with you. I want what you'll_ _ **be.**_ _What I'll make you. What I_ _ **have**_ _made you.'  
_  
Lusamine didn't want this. Not like this. This was... this was... her. He was reminding her of herself too much. "Sun, I promise, I'll look after you. I want to." The words seemed empty where less than half an hour ago she would have meant it. "Please, let me have a shower in peace. Please. Just relax. Nothing has changed. Nothing." Maybe she could make him relax and go back to how he was. Killing Wicke had changed him.

"I need you."

"You've got me, okay? I'm here for you. I'm-" she tried to placate him but he was still blankly staring. She'd been so stupid taking him and doing it all to him.

"Do you want me to go?"

"Yes. Just let me shower and get this blood off-"

"I'll go. I'll leave you in peace and I'll waste away, you selfish, evil-"

"No, no, no-" Lusamine didn't want to hear it. She didn't want him to be like this, knowing he was manipulating her but not being able to do anything to stop it. "No. No, you can- you can stay..."

Sun's shoulders slumped a little as he relaxed. "Okay." As Lusamine reached behind her back to take off her bra, Sun spoke again. "I love you so much."

"I... I love you too."

* * *

Sun handed her the towel. She took it without thanking him, without looking at him, just covering herself up and putting another one over her head to dry her - now she thought of it as frankly ridiculous - hair. He hadn't looked at her through the duration of her shower, keeping his eyes on the door, sat stiffly.

"Mother, I'm sorry." He meant it too. He knew he had been pushing it.

Lusamine nodded. "I understand. You were upset. But you listen to me, I am _not_ letting you do that," she gestured back to the shower, "- _crap_ again. You just wanted to- to watch me. I don't know why, but I am not letting this get... out of hand. Like it was."

Sun dropped his head, hanging it. "It wasn't like me. I realised, that's not... not me. I wanted to leave."

"I know it's not you," Lusamine said, trying to let him know that she understood. "I know it's not you, baby. It's me. And we have to... have to stop that." It wouldn't mean a thing if they had been through this all only to revert back to step one. "I love you. I do. But... we have to get out of here before one of us drives the other one mad. We need change."

"Okay," Sun mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"It's my fault. I'll accept that." Lusamine wanted to hug him but didn't want to touch him or pull him close while only wearing a towel. She didn't trust him as much as she had. "This- we have to... do you want to talk about it?"

"Mother, I- I'm willing to forget everything and be happy with you." There was unease in Sun's stomach as he said so, but it was not enough to make him reconsider. He was still sat on the sink but his posture was less defined, more defeated.

"Then I'll do everything I can to make you happy." Lusamine felt that she finally understood his stance. "Everything I can do for you, I'll do."

Sun put his hand over hers again but this time the gesture was less pointed, a mere search for reassurance. "Do you think we'll manage?"

Lusamine ran her tongue over the inside of her lips, mouth shut. "I think we can."

"I'll... I'll let you dry off." Sun left her in the bathroom, and the exhaustion Lusamine could feel compressing her into a metaphorical coffin tripled the moment he was out of her sight. She cried without feeling sad while drying herself off. It felt like rape. It felt like her.

She rubbed the towel over her legs, her arms, her chest and her back, but nowhere did she actually feel it. Nowhere was it cleaning her off. The bleak and endless path ahead just drew all her attention, making her daydream... making her remember.

 _"Samantha?"  
_  
 _"Hey, Wicke! Was the flight okay? I hope that-"  
_  
 _"Of course! Thank you, by the way, for-"  
_  
 _"-Oh, it was nothing! What are you thinking of Alola so far?"  
_  
 _"Forget Alola, Samantha, this place- this Aether Paradise- I've only been here for an hour and it's... goodness, if this is where we're working the rest of our lives... I don't know what to say, it's beautiful!"  
_  
 _"I know! I've only been here once before, with my father - it's his, after all - but now I feel like we're ready to-"  
_  
 _Gladion was crying.  
_  
 _"Oh, is he okay? Don't let me distract you from-"  
_  
 _"He's fine," Samantha dismissed Wicke's concerns with a wave. "He's just grouchy cause it's hot here, he's not used to it yet... but he will be, won't you?" She bounced Gladion up and down in her arms while Wicke and her husband conversed about the business. She bopped Gladion on the nose with her index finger. "Won't you, silly?"_

Lusamine had automatically leaned over and switched the shower back on. Putting down the toilet lid and placing another towel over it so the ceramic didn't get wet, she sat down and cried, wailing into her hands, relying on the shower running to mask the noise of her uncontrolled, untamed pain.

 _"How long have you been awake for?"  
_  
 _Samantha turned to peer at the clock with her watery red eyes. "F-fifty... fifty one hours."  
_  
 _"Samantha," Wicke said, speaking softly as she locked her fingers with Samantha's digits, giving her a rock in this time of need, "We will find him. We're not going to stop searching if you go to sleep. We will find a way."  
_  
 _"I have to be there. I have to be awake. I have to see him."  
_  
 _"Samantha-"  
_  
 _"ALL I HAVE TO SHOW FOR THE LAST FIFTY ONE HOURS IS THAT THING!" She gestured across the room, where a white, glassy shard was trapped in a glass container. "That little- that little piece of the monster that took him away from me!"  
_  
 _"Samantha-"  
_  
 _"I am not going to sleep until I have found my-"  
_  
 _"Samantha, please-"  
_  
 _She pointed again at the case, and Wicke saw the shard squirm. "That- that thing, and its-"  
_  
 _"Listen-"  
_  
 _"I had to test it somehow-" Samantha admitted suddenly, speaking very fast, placing her elbows on the desk and hiding her face. "I tested it on me."  
_  
 _"Tested... what?" Wicke asked, a sinking feeling in her gut. She already knew what the Vice-President would say, glancing over at the shard in the case and the black liquid dripping down the inside.  
_  
 _"The... the alien... the... Ultra Beast. The venom." Samantha didn't sound proud. She sounded horrified, scared, angry.  
_  
 _"Oh, Arceus... Samantha, if you had to test it- then why not test it on-"  
_  
 _"The Pokémon? We don't test on Pokémon." As she spoke she pounded her fist onto the desk, unusually violent.  
_  
 _"Poison types, they're resistant to tox-" Wicke tried to show her some sense but Samantha shot the idea down fast.  
_  
 _"Poisons from this world. This. World. We are the Aether Foundation. We do not test on Pokémon. Imagine what it would be like if that got out, that news, that-"_

Lusamine wept even louder. She screamed. She sobbed and bawled at the top of her lungs. One little slip in judgement had bought this upon all of them. Just one tiny little slip. A taste.

"Mother?" was the call from the other side of the door.

Lusamine held back the collapse long enough to call back to him. "I'm okay! I'm-" she broke down again, still trying to dry herself off.

"Mother, I'm-" She launched up and locked him out. She switched off the shower for the second time and plugged the sink, running the taps instead. She would drown herself in the sink. Lusamine didn't apologise, she didn't tell him her plan, she just went ahead with it before she could think twice. Had to get away. Had to run.

"Mother- MOTHER!" Still convulsing in mewls of pain and sorrow she ignored his cries. He was slamming on the door, but it was holding. Confident that it would last against Sun's bashing, she waited for the water to hit the right level for her to dunk her face into it and go for one last deep dive.

It rose, like her troubles, her trauma and her terrors. It was lukewarm when she dipped a finger in it. Her reflection shimmered and stared. The water silently encouraged her to go through with it and end it all.

It was deep enough now. She inhaled the breath that she savored the most and dunke-

Crash.

The door blasted off its hinges, splintering and shattering into little pieces. Lusamine screamed, falling back, the towel barely preserving her modesty as she fell. Her head hit the black tile floor hard, and she may have cracked her head open if she hadn't been wearing the towel over her hair, which muffled the strike.

Silvally - Gladion's, she could recognise it at a glance - burst in and pinned her down. It was like her biological son entering along with Sun and saying _'Oh no, you are not getting away that easy.'_ The synthetic chimera's talons were close to her bare skin, close enough to make her cringe in fear: but it was more precise and more athletic than it was with the containment mask on, and hadn't cut her.

"S-Sun, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" he looked disappointed. Not angry- no, not even disappointed, that look was pity.

"Mother..." he sat down beside her. Silvally looked to him for a command, some direction, and Sun jerked his head to the door after a quick nod. Silvally nodded back and let Lusamine go, sitting in the corner of the bathroom. It was claustrophobic enough with the two humans in - Silvally took up an eighth of the space alone, sitting up straight. "It's okay."

"No, Sun... you have no idea... no idea..."

"It's in the past. We have to put it aside." Sun's voice was quiet, comforting. "If we can... we'll be able to go on and make each other better."

Lusamine lay her head back, flinching. That was going to bruise. The towels were still encircling her, and kept the hard tile floor from digging into her uncomfortably. "Make each other better," she repeated. "Sun, my sweet... are you sure you want to do this?"

The tenderness vanished from his face as he blinked, considering the question. "Yes." He was clinging to her because she was all that mattered to him.

"Then I'll do this for you." She'd already told him that she was willing to look after him, it had been his odd behaviour that had shaken her faith - but now she thought that it had merely been Sun's fear of being unloved, like her fear had spurred her to chase Nihilego, to take Sun.

"Please, mother..." he whispered. "Please, don't do anything like that ever again."

"I won't," she replied, her voice feeling hoarse. "It's you and me now."

Sun nodded. "Do you want help getting up?"

"I'll be okay. Let me get changed." She forced herself to sit up, one arm keeping the towel on while the other supported her. She made a animalistic shout of pain, a huff of uncontrollable agony as her head flared up with a stabbing sensation. She barely managed to complete the rest of the sitting motion. "Agh- Arceus... that hurts..."

"Mother, let me help-" Sun already had moved closer, put his hands on her shoulders. If she had still been corrupt this would have been an opportunity for her to manipulate him into serving her sexual desires: but the disease of her mind was gone, quarantined to where it couldn't cloud her judgement, and all she felt was a need to be dressed and not be exposed in the way she was to Sun. Even though her modesty had been preserved since stepping out of the shower, the towel was not enough to prevent her from feeling weak and pathetic. Given her acts, she should feel that way.

 _It has been... forty days... six hours... and... about... twenty minutes... since you disappeared.  
_  
 _I will find you.  
_  
 _The creature that took you did so by mistake, I know that. It is purely benevolent - that is how I know you are still alive. It shows me its home. I will join you there soon. We will study the Ultra Beast and the realm from which it hails, and we will be renowned as the first explorers of Ultra Space.  
_  
 _I have called it Nihilego, because it is nothing, and it is everything.  
_  
 _I will see you again soon, of this I am certain.  
_  
 _I must find a way to reach you.  
_  
 ** _-Lusamine_**

Sun helped her to stand. Lusamine sat down again atop the closed toilet lid, keeping the towel close. "Thank you," she muttered.

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry I tried to... do that." This was the most earnest she'd ever looked at him. Sun just nodded. "I think about it a lot. I thought about it since before you got your memory back. I regretted it. I did."

"Killing yourself?"

She wasn't looking at him anymore. Now she nodded.

"I guess we're even then." Sun had his arms folded. That statement made Lusamine feel all the more strange. They'd both tried to kill themselves and saved each other before the act could be completed.

"Hm," she acknowledged.

"I'll let you get dressed." He gestured to Silvally, which stood excitedly, wagging its fin like a Lycanroc would its tail. It was ready to play another game of 'tackle Lusamine to the cold, hard, ground.' There was still no love lost between Silvally and Lusamine. "No, no," Sun told it and it looked a little disappointed that it wasn't going to throw itself at her again. "Come on," he encouraged, and led it out of the bathroom.

Lusamine watched as they crossed her room and sat at her table, both facing away to give her some form of privacy now the door had been destroyed. She stared at Sun's back, the white shirt on his dark skin, the trousers that looked like her leggings. His blonde hair and how it had crept past his shoulders and reached down his back.

A feeling of warmth spread through her. She didn't know what it meant or what it was, only that she wanted to keep looking. Sun could feel her watching. Without acknowledging her gaze he continued to stroke Silvally.

Lusamine finished getting dried and dressed out of their sight. Another split dress, black and white. Sapphire on her chest, emerald in her eyes as always. She sat down next to Sun, and he faced her again. "Come here," she requested.

Sun shifted his chair closer and she put an arm around his waist, encouraging him to lean against her. There was no sound except the distant waves, the mechanical breathing of Silvally as it lay down lazily, and a rhythmic tapping as Sun rapped his foot on the ground in a regular, spaced out beat.

"Let's fix your hair," Lusamine suggested, Sun making a noise in response. She knew what he wanted from the tone of his murmur. "Why not?"

"Let me be what I am."

Lusamine didn't speak.

"You don't mind that, do you?" Sun's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Of course not. I just want you to be happy."

"Well, I'd like to keep it."

"Sure thing."

Lusamine knew that she still had at least one more crippling mental blow to sustain - disposing of the body. She'd moved it out of the living room and therefore out of sight to any visitors. There was a severe issue that she couldn't think of a way to overcome. Wicke did not deserve to just be dumped off the Foundation and left to sink, rot at the bottom of the ocean. Getting a fucking corpse off the Paradise and to the mainland for a proper burial, however, was a much bigger fucking issue. She could take a massive risk for the sake of paying due respect to her friend or remove all the risk and live knowing that Wicke was at the bottom of the ocean under the Paradise. It was fucked up beyond all repair.

The longer she waited to do something, the worse it would be when it came time. She had to decide something. Soon. Before nightfall, and it was evening now.

"Sun, we have to-"

"Take care of Wicke's body." So he'd been thinking the exact same thing. "Mother, I'm sorry about what happened to miss Wicke..."

"Me too." Neither of them knew Sun had been drugged. The fact was lost to time now. "But if we want to stay together... we'll have to do this."

"Yes, mother."

They were steeling themselves with robotic calm and confidence, overriding their morality again to adjust to the task ahead. "Could you get Silvally to..."

"Not without making a bigger mess," Sun muttered, "And we could do without more of that. It can't make her just... disappear."

Lusamine's hand moved up to his head, pulling him into leaning against her closer - Sun shifted his chair. "I'll handle-"

"You handle everything, mother. I'll help." Lusamine appreciated Sun's suggestion, but didn't agree with his sentiment.

"No. You don't need that on your mind."

"Neither do you."

They fell quiet for a while. Silvally got up and lay its head in Sun's lap, where he patted its muzzle and watched the RKS 2.0 cycle through the rainbow of Type energy programmed in, radiating a dim glow to the table, to the room. When it set to the green of the grass type, he turned his eyes to Lusamine purposefully, knowing they'd be reflecting the colour. He found her looking down at him.

Neither spoke. Neither smiled, scowled or acknowledged that they both knew exactly why the other had looked. They wasted time together until a noise stirred them out of their tranquility - a knock on the door. Lusamine had cleaned everything up, the blood, the broken datapad, and of course the body. She stood to answer it.

"No matter what happens, stay here until they're gone."

Sun nodded, and as she passed him to answer the knock he brushed the back of his hand against hers in a subtly comforting gesture. Lusamine put her heels back on in the living room and crossed to the door, opening it and letting the evening air rush in.

It was the police.

"Miss President, ma'am, this may come as a surprise to you, but we'd like you to shut down the Paradise for a short while." Lusamine could see the police were adept at hiding their intentions, whether they were testing her or not was unclear. She acted naturally as she could.

"Of course, if it's necessary - have there been developments then?" She took a step back from the doorway and indicated the hallway. "Would you like to come in?" Confidence that they wouldn't enter her home propelled her to extend the invitation.

"Oh, we won't be long," they waved off her suggestion. "Yes, there have been. The coroner's report came through."

"Oh, already?"

"Yes, and it seems Mr. Vicio appears to have had marks consistent with strangulation on his throat." Lusamine gasped, playing her role. The police continued. "However, the coroner mentioned that it was unlikely we're looking at a murder case - they mentioned that the suicide looked very hasty and rushed, so it could have been rope burns from a failed initial attempt."

"I see. And you'd like me to close so you can collect more evidence?"

"Yes, that would be appreciated."

"Very well. We'll be gone by tomorrow morning - I'll issue a memo to the staff. Is it acceptable for us to work through the night to move the operation to our other locations?" While the Paradise was the stronghold and crown jewel of the Foundation there were other facilities in other regions that the Pokémon could be moved to.

"Certainly. In fact, the sooner that we can get this place shut down, the better. Obviously, just in case of a murder, we can't have tourists-"

"-oh, yes, yes, I understand," Lusamine replied, but dared not even think about the irony of the murderer saying this to the law. She felt like they'd dip into her mind and scoop out the cold thought.

"We'll leave you in peace then, you do what you have to do to get this place shut down for tomorrow. Thank you for cooperating."

"Thank you," Lusamine smiled. "I appreciate you looking into this."

"No problem, ma'am."

Lusamine waved them off and shut the door. She smiled outright, hands flat on the inside of the door as she put her back against it, resting on it. This was exactly what they needed. She didn't have to be here anymore. She could step down as President now, there was nothing for her to cling on to. There was money, plenty in the bank.

Give up everything except Sun and live a normal, stress-free life. At least, that was the theory. In the hustle of everyone going to other Aether sites in the world she could take him back to her house in Kalos, announce she was stepping down and leave the Foundation without much drama. Well - there would be drama. She had been bereaved of her children, there had been a suicide and the Vice-President would turn out missing in a short while. Her stepping down was only natural at that point.

She didn't need to cut all ties with the Foundation. It was more than income to her, it was her family's heritage. While she had neglected it in the chase for Nihilego and the subsequent chase for Sun, her first love was for Pokémon and caring for them. She'd still be a member of the top hierarchy, of the boards, and if Sun wanted to take over she'd have the power to ensure it happened.

Sun had done the right thing! He had known that the storm was almost over and that they'd make it out safely. Lusamine chuckled at her own stupidity. Trying to convince him to leave, trying to kill herself... how moronic could she be? "Sun?"

"Yes, mother?" He came back into the main room with an unusual arrogance, fist against his hip as if he knew he was right - he probably did know, he'd most likely been listening.

"We'd better finish cleaning this place up." She paced across to him and found the confidence and happiness to smile down on him, putting her hands on his shoulders and lightly stroking them back and forth. "We're leaving soon."

"I heard," Sun replied and she heard the smug satisfaction in his voice. He put his hands on her waist and smiled back up at her. "We're good, aren't we?"

The last vestige of regret and morality in Lusamine's body was replaced by a callous, joyous disregard for both. Ignorance was bliss, and her life was now looking a lot more blissful.

"We are."

He hugged her, the hands that had been on her hips now wrapped around her back. "Good." She considered briefly what he must be going through. He was deleting all of his past manually to be happy with her. Not even deleting it, that was what she tried to do. Just ignoring it. His biological mother, her children, they were both just going to pretend they didn't exist. It made her skin crawl. "What are we going to do now?" Lusamine's hands fell off him, hanging by her sides before she folded her arms, regaining her poise, her confidence as President of the Aether Foundation. "They're closing the Paradise?" Sun asked. He'd let go of her as she moved, and mirrored her. Before he imitated her folding her arms, he swept his hair across and out of his eyes.

"Yes." Lusamine moved one arm to reach around behind his back and play with his now long hair. "I'm going to step down. I'll still own the Foundation."

"Why are you stepping down?" Sun asked, stretching his arms into the air as he let go. "I mean, we won, we don't have to-"

"I need less stress. We both do. I'll be with you all the time, you won't need to mope around alone." Sun's look was positively radiant. He put his hands behind his head, remembered it was something Hau used to do, marginally narrowed his eyes and stopped. "But where are we going to go while the Paradise is shut?"

"I've got a house in Kalos. We'll live there."

"Kalos?"

"Yes. Sound good?" Lusamine asked him, and couldn't keep the smile off her face. Sun was similarly shameless in his ecstasy, eyes aglow, rocking gently from side to side with excitement.

"I've never been."

"I'll teach you Kalosian, don't you worry."

"Well, that's a relief." Even though there was nothing funny about it they both cracked up laughing, making the empty, depressed, decrepit mansion echo with humourless cackling. The sound carried up the stairs, into the room with the broken mirror scattered on the ground, the room with scars dug by infected fingernails into the walls, the bathroom where Sun had nursed Lusamine back to health after she'd fainted; and into the spare room where Sun was reborn. The sound reached down, through Lusamine's bedroom and around the bathroom with the shattered door; down into the trophy room now devoid of all manner of 'achievements', where Nihilego had escaped to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting family, and nearly an unprepared world.

The sound of laughter didn't fit. It wasn't right. Nothing was. They both either noticed this or the unspoken joke lost its luster fast - they fell quiet together. Their morality was withdrawn and bare, their humanity shambolic. Sun cared less. "And we'll just stay there? We don't need to come back here?"

"No. We can get far away from this place." Now they remembered the empty halls, the screams and shouts that had reverberated through the walls in which they stood contained by. Sun hadn't been away from the artificial island in months. Melemele was a lifetime ago. The silence oppressed them, so Sun broke it as he would have if it were a corporeal being that stood in this new and spiraling path.

"Far away from all this. The past." He whispered the next few words, seductive, evil. "The fresh start you wanted." Lusamine nodded along. She'd had enough of measuring however many moments she thought she had left by the second hand without knowing what the other did. Sun could hear noises like guitar strums stuttering in his head, out of tune. It made him feel both strong and weak, and he knew that if he let the President out of his sight it would only get worse.

"Kalos," Lusamine said. "Kalos."

Sun's smile still hadn't truly left his face. "Kalos," he repeated. "Far from here."

"Far from here." There were no ghosts and no apparitions. Just the two people speaking. The relief between them was palpable. Sun snickered to himself, his smile still pure, but his eyes serrated and surreal.

"We win."

Lusamine patted him on the head, and he shut those windows into the emptiness of the once bright blue and enjoyed the sensation. "We don't win quite yet. We've got to make sure that we take care of-" Before she could say 'Wicke's body,' Lusamine felt a pang of something, but she didn't even know what it was anymore. "-all of our unfinished business. This needs to look like a normal home."

"Yes, mother." Sun agreed. "We're taking the Silvally, right?"

"Yes, of course," Lusamine replied kindly and Sun beamed at her.

"Thank you," he replied and started up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Lusamine called after him, having expected him to go back into her room to collect them, release the other two and tell them the good news.  
"We have to clean up the broken mirror," Sun said. "And hide the marks in Lillie's room."

They were so close. So close to escaping. "I'll help," Lusamine said, waving her hand airily. She had to make sure it was done right. She trusted Sun's judgement, but wanted to do it for herself, to make sure. And to say goodbye. "Sun..."

"Yes, mother?"

The sinister smile was back, and Sun was reflecting it.


	45. Bedtime

They had gone through with the cover up operation, only having finished minutes ago. The broken mirror parts had been disposed of, and the scars in the wall had been carefully buffed out and cleaned down. They couldn't replace the broken door, but they had Silvally claw apart what was left of it before switching to Fire Memory and incinerating the fragments (in what Sun called a 'controlled environment'), with the two Silvally clones and Lusamine's Milotic on hand to extinguish any flame that got out of control. At least then it'd look like the door had been gone for a while and was awaiting replacement, and wouldn't just be lying in splinters.

"Okay," Lusamine had said as Milotic and the three Silvally glared at each other - the last time they had met it had been as enemies. "The mirror, the door, the body..." she counted them on her fingers. "What else is there?" They didn't talk about the body. They had handled it together, and that had been enough to know to never speak or think of it again. Wicke was taken care of. That was all that was important. It was done.

Sun had yawned. The moon was in the cloudless sky and the stars twinkled down, but there was an ominous grey wall on the horizon, a storm coming to pass. "I dunno," he replied shortly. "Mother, I want to go to sleep..."

"Just a little longer, baby. We- well, we might have to be up all night." Lusamine was thinking ahead, how to get Sun out of the region without a Trainer Passport. She could ask him to hide in a suitcase or something, but it'd be easier for her to just create a forgery.

"What?" Sun asked. He took her hand and leaned against her.

"We're going to Kalos, remember?"

"Yeah..." Sun said, rubbing his eyes. "Kalos. I'm tired."

"I know you're tired. It's been a long day for you. But if we're going to Kalos... it's going to be another few hours." Lusamine led him back indoors, pulling her arm away from his hold and wrapping it over his shoulder. Sun nuzzled into her ribs as she recalled Milotic, the Silvally trio following them inside and down the sterile white corridors.  
"What if the police go looking for miss Wicke?"

Sun's question got Lusamine thinking. How many narrative threads did she have left to tie up? It couldn't be that many. "I'll come up with something." She lay him down on the couch, making sure he was comfortable nestled against the armrest and sat next to him - he immediately shifted to lie against her instead. She took her own datapad up off the table and started to type out the memo to the staff to enact the shutdown of the Paradise.

"Hmm..." Sun hummed contentedly, breathing in the smell of her recently washed hair. After the first, he couldn't stop. He breathed in, and out, and in, and out...

"Oh... Sun, honey?"

"Yes, mother?"

"Pass me the black boxes on the armrest?" He was closer, after all. He mumbled something and obliged her. Lusamine took the top box and opened it, reading 'Eumelanin booster' on the tiny vial of clear serum inside, tucked beside the needle. She couldn't remember which one it was she needed. The next box had 'Eumelanin reducer' written on the vial inside.

After a little research she determined she needed to use the reducer, and Sun would have needed the booster to turn his hair black again if that had been what he wanted. Lusamine dipped the plunger into the reducer vial and withdrew its contents into the chamber of the needle, finding her hand trembling. Her fingers felt fuzzy. She shouldn't be so conservative about fixing her hair colour, but she knew why she was so afraid.

"Sun..."

"Hm?" He opened one blue eye to look up at her.

"You couldn't... inject me with this, could you?"

"Why can't you?" His tone was neutral. He wasn't trying to be offensive or obtuse. It was just a question.

"It reminds me of... of Nihilego." Sun looked a little more awake. He sat up straight off of her and held out his hand for the needle. Knowing that fear himself made him willing to help, because the last thing he would have wanted was to be injected by someone he didn't trust. He trusted Lusamine... to an extent, but at this point knew he was an unreliable narrator to his own life and didn't trust _himself._ Considering that it may be the same for Lusamine made him shiver.

"I don't know how to do this," he warned. "When I took the venom it... I just... jammed it in."

The room felt cold. It was another confrontation with their past. It was a struggle many were familiar with. Drugs, needles, Nihilego... the methodology of the Beast's infection appealed to primal fears, and it continued to echo into their lives.

"Well..." Lusamine muttered, presenting her wrist, "Um... you need to find the vein." She slid her index and middle fingers down the inside of her wrist to feel her pulse, not that she needed to. She and Sun could both see the mark on her skin where she had been injecting herself with the venom in the past, and Lusamine tried to make it look coincidental that the point she needed to be injected intersected with the mark. It didn't go over his head. More pity piled onto the heap. Pity was a key ingredient in their relationship.

"Are you sure you want me to..." Sun looked apprehensive. "Um..." he aligned it with her wrist. Lusamine inhaled and nodded down at him, swallowing the air in her lungs nervously.

"Please. Please do this for me."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Lusamine was breathing faster than usual. This would be the last time she unprofessionally had anything injected. "Please."

Sun held it at an angle, the point nearly touching her skin. "Like this?"

"Tilt it a bit down- like- like that, yes." She closed her fist, the bone in her wrist sticking up. The moment felt too visceral.

"Ready?" Sun asked.

Lusamine closed her eyes. She held her breath and nodded.

Sun slid the point into her skin. It did hurt, like he'd guessed it would - he'd missed the sweet spot but it'd do the job. Lusamine was having mental images in her head of Nihilego slithering into her body, so she opened her eyes and was relieved to see it was just a needle. "Go on," she encouraged and Sun pushed the plunger down, biting his lip. "There. There. Good job. Good job." He pulled the point back out gently. Her arm already felt like it was throbbing, painful. Thankfully she was able to smother that feeling in appreciation for Sun. "Thank you, my sweet." Sun set the needle back in the case and didn't close it. He knew they'd have to dispose of it. Lusamine shifted down to kiss him on the forehead. "Thank you so much." Still trembling, she rubbed his shoulder. The box with the drug that could have fixed Sun's hair went forgotten. "Good boy."

"It's okay, mother." Sun sat up straighter and kissed her cheek before slumping back against her. Lusamine had to fight off an urge to cry.

"Sun, you're... a good kid."

"I'm yours." There was a little bit of the confrontational tone she didn't like, that she was scared by. The same kind of tone that he'd spoken in when insisting she told nobody the truth. He didn't want to believe anything else, not even be told anything else.

"You're mine," she placated and he agreed, curling up to her with a purr that made her insides glow.

"How long will your hair take to change back?" Sun had taken a handful of it and was playing with it idly.

"I don't know." Lusamine was just glad that the injection was over. She hadn't had a severe fear of needles in the past - of course she was less than eager to be stuck by one but that was only natural. Now she'd always associate Nihilego with sharps and the like. That would be enough to put her off them forever.

"Mommy..." Sun sighed. Lusamine waited for him to continue, but he didn't, merely closing his eyes and folding his arms contentedly as he lay against her, trying to get some shut-eye. Lusamine picked up the datapad again, ignoring the steady throbbing from the site of the injection. A tiny bubble of blood was rising from the mark. Lusamine wiped it away but the light contact made her arm ache all the more so she ignored it as the tiny wound continued to bleed.

As she finished off the memo and sent it to the staff, she used the admin backdoor to access Wicke's account. She checked to ensure that the video of her killing Faba was not stored on the Foundation servers and had been local to the datapad, then set to work creating the alibi for Wicke's disappearance. Some trash story about her having 'liked' Faba, having been unable to cope with his suicide as she was carrying his unborn child, saying she needed 'space', and that she 'wasn't ready' to be President. It was all a lie, but what could motivate someone to vanish more than losing someone that they cared about? Samantha should know.

Lusamine saved the story she had formulated, written from Wicke's point of view, as an email and programmed it to be sent to her account from Wicke's in two hours. By then a small number of the Aether personnel would have already left, and Wicke could be assumed to be among them - then all she needed to do was forward the email to the police, stating that she was worried about her friend's well-being. The plan was formulated with a numbness and an empty soul, a devoid morality. She took no pleasure in the act. Wicke had been her best friend. Wicke had been Samantha's friend.

After devising and building the monument of deception, she glanced down at Sun, who had fallen asleep next to her. Finding a smile where moments ago she'd felt dead inside, she lay him against the armrest, letting him rest for a while. She'd pack up all their things. Again she felt that warmth while looking at him, focusing on the change in hue between the white sleeve and his dark arm. He was gorgeous, and she'd never want to hurt him. Her doubts crumbled away. All of this was for him. To protect him. To ensure his future. To make him safe. With one hand she reached across and lay her fingertips on his shoulder. Sluggishly, gradually, lazily, she closed her eyes and exhaled. Her head felt clear again. Nihilego had fallen silent. The conflict, the scarred battleground in her head, was now under a peace treaty, written in terms that explained both sides should be at a ceasefire to protect Sun.

Breathing steadily, she took her fingers away. "I will protect you." What exactly she needed to protect him from, besides herself, she didn't know.

* * *

"Sun, honey?"

"Hm?" He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "What is it?"

"I've packed up our stuff," she whispered. It was nearly midnight. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, mother." He sat up and stretched with a smile, standing and hugging her. "I'm ready." Lusamine hugged him back. She voiced one last concern.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sun didn't hesitate. "Yeah." He pushed his hair out of his face, rubbing tiredness out of his eyes. "How are we going to do it? How are you going to get me out of here?"

"Here," she said, holding out a keycard marked with the Foundation logo. "I'll walk you down to the docks, and this will let you into my private quarters aboard the largest shuttle. If you wait for me there... we should be good." She'd get him down there before the rest of the Foundation made it off the Paradise, leaving her time to officially dismiss the remainder of the Foundation - as well as announce her retirement - to their faces.

"We're going to be okay, right?" Sun asked, his eyes wide and pleading. "This is going to work?"

 _'Arceus...'_ Lusamine thought to herself. She was blessed to still have him, at least. If she couldn't have her children back, she was glad to have the opportunity to look after Sun properly, glad he still trusted her somehow. "Look at me," she commanded him. Lusamine was able to tell just how agitated he was from his body language, even if he wasn't playing up like he usually did. "Baby... we are going to be fine. Trust me."

"I do." He hugged her again, laying his head against her chest. "I'm just... just scared."

"Are you worried about what might happen to us?" Lusamine sighed. "When we get to Kalos, we'll have all the time in the world to figure things out. It'll be new and exciting for you. You can do a Pokémon Gym run if you want. Whatever you want to do, I will make sure it happens." As she explained to him she gently rubbed his back up and down.

"I'm... I don't know if I..."

 _'No, no no no no_ _ **NO NO NO NO NONONO NOOOO-'  
**_  
"You're- having... second thoughts?" Lusamine asked, trying to sound like she wasn't being confrontational. "Um- if you want to try something else-"

"No- no... it's just... I wish I could have said goodbye." Sun had the odd expression on his face again, stony, rough. "I... I really..." Lusamine chose not to interrupt him. "I..."  
 _'NO, NO SUN, LISTEN-'_ It was as if Gladion's scream in his head was telling him to listen to his broken conscience, contextualised differently to how it had been when Gladion was begging for mercy. _'NO, NO SUN- NO, NO SUN-'_ it repeated. It looped. Sun twitched. He put his hands to his temples. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Behind the cries was a wave of sound that the memory rode, a mashup of noise that was completely unidentifiable. It was so loud that Sun didn't hear Lusamine telling him to calm down. Amidst the wall of sound in his head were single things, little outcrops he could recognise.

 _'Put me back to sleep until I can be perfect-'  
_  
 ** _'I AM NOTHING-'  
_**  
 _'Sun. Trust me.'  
_  
 _'Mother, NO!'  
_  
 _'IT'S- I OWN YOU! I! ME!_ _ **LILLIAN FUCKI-'  
**_  
 _'I AM YOUR SON-'  
_  
 _'SUN-'  
_  
 _'I AM YOUR-'  
_  
 _'SUN-'  
_  
 _'LILLIAN FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK_ _ **FU C K-'  
**_  
 _'Sun is alive. Our mother kidna-'  
_  
 ** _'NIHILEGO-'  
_**  
It became unbearable. Sun had collapsed to his knees, tried to stand and fallen. He didn't feel anything until he realised that he wasn't moving anymore, a numbness that lasted until he was looking up into Lusamine's eyes.

"Mother..."

"S-Sun..." Lusamine said. She had a hand on his shoulder, holding him back, the other arm crossed over his chest to stop him from convulsing. "Look at me." He was already looking at her, but she still said it. It was redundant as could be. "What do you need?"

"I'm okay... I'm okay." The voices were not silent. In the background of Sun's thoughts they still whispered to each other, Nihilego, Gladion, Lillie, Hau, his mother, Lusamine, Wicke... they were all conversing casually in quotes that were quiet, loud, angry, happy. "They- they all just... spoke at once..."

"Oh, honey..." Lusamine sat him up and hugged him tight, rubbing his scalp back and forth comfortingly. "Whatever I can do to help, let me know." It hurt her deeply to see him like this, especially considering it was her fault he was having these episodes. She continued to comfort him until he stopped shaking.

"Th- thank you." Sun managed. That little comment, his appreciation of her effort to make him better meant the world to her. "Love you," he whispered. It ached. It hurt. It was so painful because she knew that he wasn't hers, that he shouldn't be saying it, but now he was saying it because he really did love her. He wasn't under brainwashed duress and he wasn't under her influence as far as she could tell - but exactly how much of his love was real and not misplaced pity, looking for a parental figure or just wanting something to love, was not clear.

"I love you too. Come on now." She helped him stand again, feeling the familiar blast of an emotion she couldn't place. It was a desire to protect him from all harm, to see him be happy, healthy, strong.

"Y-yes..." Sun mumbled. "Mother... you're my... mother..." He was confusing himself. Lusamine tried to keep it simple.

"That's right. I am now. Don't look back now. We're almost done." She guided Sun to a white travel case that she'd filled with his - very few - earthly possessions. His duplicate clothes took most of the space. Lusamine had hidden the shredded ball of blue and white fabric that used to be his shirt in the bag too. Besides that she'd never given Sun any gifts, any books, anything to play with or have an attachment to. The collar he once wore had gone in there too, only because she'd found it under his bed. It had been painful to look under there, given the past. It scared her to think that if Sun had chosen to leave and refused her money he'd only have had the clothes on his back.  
That would all have to change. She wasn't going to spoil him, but he needed actual things to keep his mind occupied. It was as quick and as sharp as hers, and she could tell that even though she'd employed some of that intellect it had lost some of its cutting power. They'd have to whet it again, and Kalos, with all the species of Pokémon he wouldn't recognise, would serve as a great place to do so.

Kalos. Arceus, it was so close. A new day. A new life. She didn't feel, couldn't experience anything in this half-life based off of lies, she wasn't head of the Paradise, hadn't been for a year - she wasn't a leader, she was greedy, corrupt, self centered, Samantha was the greater version of her and that was the version that had been destroyed. The final revelation about her own identity was that Samantha didn't need to hate herself. She had to hate Lusamine. It was too late to go back to the former, but the latter... the latter could still change. The new life was a reset button, a chance to reflect on herself and her self-hate, a chance to move beyond and accept her deeply flawed past decisions... but she didn't deserve the chance.

She was pulled out of the absurdly extended, paradoxical exploration of her own consciousness.

"Alright, Sun, we should get down to the docks if you're going to get there ahead of everyone else." She offered her hand and he took it, right as the email 'from Wicke' pinged on her datapad. She forwarded it to the police just as she had planned to, with a note about her concern for the Vice-President. She ad-libbed an additional note that Wicke had apparently already left the Foundation early. That would start a search for her, and Wicke would unfortunately never be found. Lusamine didn't smile or feel any kind of elation. It made her queasy, up until she felt Sun's warm fingers tighten slightly on her hand. "Mother?"

"Okay, Sun."

The Paradise at night was ominous, especially given their oncoming 'great escape'. It loomed over them, and they entered the complex together with conflicting feelings - Lusamine saying goodbye to her home of over twenty years, Sun saying goodbye to what had been his prison for a single year. The night air hadn't been cold but they had both shivered in it. Things felt fake, like a huge and cruel stage play was being enacted, like the curtain was about to fall on a 'tragic' ending for the audience's catharsis. That a smoking gun would take them both down and the nonexistent viewers to the gristly spectacle would applaud their deaths, knowing above all else they deserved it. Lusamine was the evil - Sun was the purposeful ignorance of that evil.

The dusk seemed bathed in liminality. They were neither here nor there - the space they existed in was created purely for their traversal, purely for this collection of moments in which adoptive mother and adopted son went to leave the place where that strange and frightening relationship was formed, now setting out in search of peace and resolution. Grey clouds reached above. The sea Pokémon and the bird Pokémon around the Paradise were mute. It kept up the illusory magic of the situation. They could see lights in the distance coming from the hab blocks on each side of the Paradise - were they spotlights, stage lights? No, they were employees packing their things, gathering equipment, on the upper floors of the main building gathering all of the Pokémon across the public and the specialised conservation areas. The shutdown would be swift and efficient. Like anything Lusamine had done, surgical and unstoppable.

They reached the dock without incident. The police boat caught their eyes, but they dismissed it, Lusamine showing Sun to the largest of the Foundation's shuttles. Embarking the white steel ramp and onto the deck, Lusamine quickly led him to her quarters.

"You stay here. Wait for me."

Sun didn't mention it now, or even think about it too hard, but this boat just felt like an extension of his prison, white, black, gold, the colours stuttering like anything else would in his head. "What if I get another... another moment? Another attack?" It seemed very possible - just looking at the hues that were clinging to the walls, that smirked down on him and told him he'd never truly escape, made him tremble.

"Just hold out for me. Think of me. That makes you better, right?" It had been a theory she'd held for a while. Forcing him to look at her, touching him, holding him, it had seemed to cause the worst of it to fall off. Maybe it was all in her head and being with him didn't help at all. But she thought it did. That programmed love, that... stimulating him while forcing him to look at her... it made her sick to think of but it had worked. Saved him from Nihilego twice. Could it save him from this?

"I... I'll try. I love- I love you." Sun took her hand before she turned to leave. Lusamine looked back at him and again found herself taking a snapshot that burned into her memory. The glorious, unmarred white around him, the Foundation's colours, the livery, and him the centrepiece. He stood out. He wasn't showy like that gold, not impenetrable and unknowable like the black, not withdrawn and secretive like white. He was Sun. He was different, and she adored him.

"I love you too." She held the hand he'd offered in both of hers. "We will make it out of this. I won't be long."

* * *

' _SON-_

 _SON!'  
_  
 _'I- I- I- I-"  
_  
 _"LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE_ _ **LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE-"  
**_  
 _"I want to go home..."  
_  
 ** _"-LILLIAN FUCKING-"  
_**  
 _"NO, NO SUN-"  
_  
Nothing seemed real. Lusamine's voice. Gladion's voice. Lillie's voice.

 _"Sun..."  
_  
His mother's voice.

He missed her. It wasn't like Lusamine could ever truly replace her. Since deciding to stay with her he'd thought of her as a surrogate mother, not the real thing. He made that excuse up on the spot, hoping that if his mom tried to read his mind she'd be convinced that was the reasoning to his accepting Lusamine as his new mother.

 _"Sun."  
_  
Well, shit, that didn't work.

"What do you want me to do?" Sun asked the voice in his head. He didn't want her to be mad.

 _"Be happy."  
_  
Sun was taken aback. Of course, this was not his mother speaking, unbeknownst to Sun. This was Sun's mind making excuses for itself. This was Sun reassuring himself using a voice that still meant the world to him. "You're... you're okay with it?"

 _"All I want is for you to shine."  
_  
"In the sky..." Sun said, raising one hand, expecting to feel her fingertips against his.

 _"And for me."_ They were used to the phrase. His mother laughed softly and Sun's heart ached. He kept his fingers hovering, waiting for a contact that didn't come.

"You don't- you don't hate me, do you?" Sun was so worried, so conflicted by it all, thinking, knowing his mother was still watching over him. "Mom, I- I still miss you."

 _"I miss you too. But I could never hate you."_ Subtlety was woven into the sentence, subtlety that made Sun feel the cut of the hidden barb while knowing that she meant well. She missed him too because her son was dead and replaced by him - but she could never hate him. Again, Sun Elio was no more. He was Sun Elsa-Mina, by accident or design, by choice or by force.

"Please," Sun asked. He threw restraint to the wind. He wanted to feel 'her' touch his hand one last time. He waited. He waited. He waited. The voice was silent. He was alone in his mind again.

Sun lowered his hand, placed it in his lap and hung his head in shame and regret. He thought that may well have been the last time he'd ever hear his mother's voice - his condition having tricked him into thinking it was more than merely in his head, that it had been his mother really speaking from beyond the grave.

"Stay with me," Lusamine's voice said. He looked around, only to realise the voice was in his imagination, the same way that everything else felt like it was. Maybe this was what being eaten by Nihilego felt like. Was this all just some weird dream? Did he dream he had a brother and sister called Lillie and Gladion and a mother who wasn't Lusamine, and was about to wake up into reality as an only child and heir to the Foundation? Now that the presence of his 'mother' had receded, he answered to his mother.

"I will."

Sun wanted to see her again. The monster had visited him so many times, had cried to him, told him about the issues it had, losing its family, losing everything it had had, and had even maybe come to love him - he couldn't tell - to the point where the monster felt friendly and safe, and the only thing he could know and love. Sun figured he was in denial - but denial was safety and happiness and that was all he wanted. This web of truth, lies, opulence, violence and selfishness he and Lusamine had spun was a work of twisted art.

* * *

Lusamine had addressed the massed crowd to announce her retirement. Some employees had already left, but the largest gathering was occurring right now as all the equipment was loaded onto the shuttles back to the mainland. On autopilot, with that kind smile and liar's guile, she orated to the massed Foundation of the 'horrible happenings' and 'her own personal losses and illnesses' being to blame for this retreat into the background. She'd thanked them all, and informed them that once they had reached their destinations they could do as they wanted on paid leave for the week until the police were done searching the Paradise for evidence - then they'd be asked to return to the Paradise under the new President, whoever that may be. She'd need to decide in the week ahead.

Then they'd started applauding. She recognised some as scientists who'd worked on Silvally... and Sun, unbeknownst to them. Others were among the employees that had tried to fight him off.

The applause got louder and louder until Lusamine was digging her nails into her palms to stop herself from screaming abuse at all of them, from admitting every single sin and begging forgiveness from any god that would still listen to her rambling. She'd left with blood running off of her fingers and her bones aching from how hard she'd pressed into them - when she flexed her fingers her bones clicked painfully, painful enough to make her slow her pace, wincing as she returned to the shuttle, to Sun.

Lusamine burst in without greeting him, throwing herself down onto the bed - it was always a bed, but there was never time to sleep. There was only one bed on the whole fucking frigate and it was hers. She considered how much time she'd spent with Sun around _Sun said something_ beds, in beds... she didn't want to continue that train of thought. Too much was sensitive _Sun said something_ ground. There was a fucking mini-fridge in the room, how did she come to earn all this crap? How did she earn it and become unsatisfied, going so far as to- kidnap a child-

"Miss Samantha-"

"Don't call me that. Either- either make it 'Lusamine' or 'mother', pick one and stick to it, but don't call me that." She was already pouring wine. Feeling more and more that alcoholism would claim her she almost managed to stop herself but kept going as always - just pushing through the wall and to the other side of incorrect was the way she had been living. "I don't want you to call- call me that." She was enraged. The speech, putting on a front, lying to all the faces that believed in her as the 'protector and mother to all Pokémon' that she claimed to be, had drained her. Why couldn't the mask just slip and expose her face for once?

"Um... can't I switch between them? If I don't want to- to call you... mother..." Sun tried to explain how little he'd decided about his own future and how he wanted to live it. The discussion he'd had with his 'mother' and his 'mother' in his head had confused him, and he didn't know how to explain that he wanted to let their relationship change to whatever felt right at the time. "Um..."

Lusamine sighed. His innocent voice and wide eyes were her weakness, and were draining the frustration from her so quick she wasn't sure that she had ever been angry. "I- I don't want to talk. Come here." He curled up, tucking his legs in as he sat up in her lap and lay back against her, allowing her to rest her chin on his head if she so chose. Instead of doing that, Lusamine lay her head back in a similar fashion against the headboard and draped her arms over him. "Baby..." she whispered to him. "Your mother will protect you." Arceus, it made her feel so much better. Because he knew. He understood.

Sun put his hands over hers, closing his eyes. "I know you will." The room was new, a venture beyond the walls of the mansion that had oppressed him so: but the colour scheme, the aesthetic, made it feel like this was merely an extension of his old prison. The outside world couldn't be all like that. The Paradise had been his home so long that he'd almost forgot what the outside was like. Now he wanted to tell her about it, but it didn't bother him so much now she was here. He put the concerns he had of acclimating to a world where Lusamine wasn't with him all the time aside. It still nagged at his skull, saying to him that he should beg to be around her, for her to lock the door and the two of them to never leave and only exist in the same space as each other, to never share their attention or their breath.

Sun exhaled steadily, the tingling of his love for Lusamine constant in his every extremity. The mood was calm though - he wasn't being touched by her, she was only holding him, and she wasn't trying to seduce him. How he wanted to do something though. Whatever that was didn't matter, but he was restless, and felt a strange urge to toss and turn in her lap until she had to chastise him for acting up. He compromised by laying back further, his head now against her flat stomach. Lusamine didn't comment on his movement. She moved her hands slightly to cross them over his chest. "Good boy," she muttered to him and Sun made a noise like a purr but it was far too short to be considered one. She sipped at her drink, putting everything from her mind except the bitter taste in her mouth and the feeling of Sun lying against her, the weight of his body atop her.

Quiet. The boat being carried through the waves. The ship had set sail, then. The sounds of a thin rain on the deck above, likely from the grey clouds that reached back in time, the same way the rain had felt like an omen when Sun had been transformed and thrown into the pit to wait for Lusamine's attention. He murmured as he lay further back into his captor, and she sighed contentedly. Sun had clung to the sensation of the rain to try and stop himself from passing out, but now he listened intently to the sound to keep his mind focused on the question he wanted to ask. The rain couldn't loop like everything else, it couldn't buzz into his brain and couldn't override all else. The sound was random, so every moment was a new auditory experience that his mind couldn't chop up and serve over and over again. It felt liberating to listen to something without the fear that it would crackle, skip like a record and stretch out into forever, repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat.

"When we get to Kalos..." Sun began, his voice hardly above a whisper.

"S-Sun," Lusamine stuttered, feeling very self-aware suddenly. "Sun, I- I was- I don't think I was ever a- a good parent. I need you to- to help me with this." She had interrupted him, but she needed to get it out for Sun to understand. "If I- if I start- going wrong, you have to be stern with me." Sun felt her hug tighten. "You have to make sure I'm doing a good job. I have to do this right for you. Because... you're so beautiful," Lusamine whispered to him. Her voice didn't carry maliciousness, it was a genuine compliment at this point, but the very act, what she'd done, what she was doing, was too much for Sun and he didn't reply. "Baby?" One finger pushed stray strands of his hair out of his face and rested against his chin, softly skimming the surface of his neck with her strangler's hands.

"When we get to Kalos," Sun repeated, no louder than he had the first time. "I need you to teach me how to live again." The thoughts he'd had that his prison was only expanding, not that he was free yet, told him how much was left for him to overcome. "I'm too used to... to being locked up." Lusamine found that statement was likely true. They couldn't be sure yet that he would be having any long-term adjustment difficulties in the future, but it was likely.

"Sun, you're all I have. I'll help you with anything. We'll go out every day if you want. You can be by yourself. Whatever you need, say the word and I do it."

"Then you'll be fine," Sun said, and it took a moment before Lusamine figured out he was referring to her worry at not being a good enough parental figure for him. "Just try."

"Sun, I don't know if- if I-" he purposefully purred and Lusamine could feel the sympathies of his throat under her fingertips. The noise stunned her and interrupted her train of thought. She couldn't think about what she had been protesting. Sun drew his legs up closer to him and lay even further back, his head in her lap now. Lusamine moved her hands to slide them through his hair.

The boat rocked in the ocean as it continued the steady journey to Alola's mainland, the following trip to Kalos beckoning, their lighthouse, their beacon, their shelter. They lay together for the duration of the journey, hardly speaking beyond the words that had already been exchanged, both deep in thought, in fantasies and hopes for the future, wishes upon all the stars that things would just work out.

Staying awake, feeling tiredness creep on them with every passing minute, just waiting for fate to pull away the curtain and revealing the 'aha', the twist it had up its sleeve to ruin the plot, the perfect escape, the ideal future, Lusamine and Sun just waited out the seconds, moment by moment.

Breathed.

Lived.

The same things circled through their heads, that had been circling since just after Ultra Space, since after Sun's memory was rejoined to his being. _'Why am I still with you?' 'Why are you still with me?' 'Who am I?'_ Their identities, Samantha to Lusamine, Sun to 'Aether' Sun.

 _"I did something I shouldn't have..."_ The phrase echoed and Sun knew that Lusamine hadn't spoken it. It was his memory jerking its knee and striking him, forcing a relevant line spoken in the past into his thoughts. But it wasn't the same Lusamine. Even though he wouldn't say it to her face because she'd deny it, he could feel, could see a change. Samantha was not as dead as Lusamine would've liked to believe.

The cryogenic night kept them for itself, trying to hold them in the freezing ice of their past. They ruminated in circles, in an orrery of orbiting and repetitious thoughts.

Lusamine was drained and could only manage the names, the names that had reduced in number with time. It had been _Sun, Gladion, Lillie._ Then _Lusamine, Lillie, Sun,_ in her desperation for a pattern having added her name to the list to make a neat three. After that... _Lusamine, Sun._ _Samantha... Sun._ She refused to go by that name again, but Arceus, Lusamine's past was clawing hard at her flesh and demanding to wear it again.

She had considered forcing Sun to change his name to cover up all that remained of the missing boy, but Lusamine didn't want to take what he had left. It was a risk, but it was the singular one that was worth it.

Alola slept.

Arriving at the dock and disembarking was not difficult either. The Foundation had their orders, to take the equipment to other sites and facilities both inside and outside of Alola. Journeys and logistics would be worked out by individual facility managers in each region, leaving Lusamine free to focus on getting herself and Sun over the lip of the bottomless pit that had threatened to consume them and back onto the solid ground, back out of the abyss into the light. It would be one of the facility managers who would take her place as President, and they would likely do so without her input. Regardless of this, she knew that the new President would be capable. The facility managers had kept their respective wings of the Foundation exactly as she specified and that left them in a good position to replace her.

So once the Foundation employees had drifted off the shuttle and to the marina to take ships to different islands, different regions, Lusamine and Sun followed.

Sun recalled the marina as being the place where he'd first fought Team Skull. Maybe someone would recognise him. Now he wanted a scarf of his own to hide his face.

"Sun," Lusamine whispered to him as they stood outside the ferry terminal, uneven cobblestone being the first thing Sun felt beneath his feet that wasn't part of the Foundation in about half a year. "Do you have any... ideas on how to get out of here? Any ideas that are better than 'walk in and try?' Because that's all I can think of."

"Well... I never took the ferry before... how far is... how far is Kalos?"

"It's not next door," Lusamine grumbled. She bowed her head and placed her hands together. "Please, Arceus, just let us get out of here," she prayed, desperate for nothing to go wrong. The employees were filtering through a queue - she'd messaged ahead to inform the marina that there would be some serious traffic. With her authority she followed some of the employees onto a ship to Kalos, taking Sun along - despite attracting some strange looks she didn't hesitate. Blunt force was the only was to push forward with this plan - there was no time for faking a passport, or any such luxury.

"Excuse me, ma'am..."

Lusamine didn't blink. "He's with me."

"Oh, um, I understand - but - you're the President of the Aether Foundation, right?"

"Yes, I am." _'Was,'_ she thought.

They made it onto the ship to Kalos. "Wait for me," Lusamine said, leaving Sun at one of the tables on board. Sun was content. It _wasn't_ white, black or gold - it was _blue,_ it was _different,_ it was _real._ Sun was more than content to stare at the wall opposite him and let the colour wash into him while waiting. The marina had been a sensory overload, and he'd stayed silent for fear that he'd do the 'thing' where he spoke funny or missed words or didn't speak at all. Too many zigzagging colours and shapes and- He put it out of his mind. Blue. Blue, like his eyes were now.

While Sun was reflecting and repairing his tether to reality, Lusamine had gone to the bathrooms on board. She closed a stall after making sure that nobody else was in the bathroom and covered her mouth with her fist.

"YES! **YES! YYEESS!"** She growled the words through gritted teeth, slamming her free hand into the walls around her. They vibrated under her strikes. **_"YES! YES!"_** They were going to Kalos. They'd made it. It had happened in seconds, one quick diversion of attention, one quick flex of her authority. The most important foil of all, and it was one that hadn't required her to murder anyone or cover anything up. It had been a complete fucking miracle. There was still the chance that something could go wrong but they were home free. _FREE._ "Yes... oh... oh my Arceus..." She felt so relieved, so light, so relaxed, so _happy.  
_  
 _'YOUR HUSBAND WOULD HAVE HATED YOU-  
_  
 _YOUR SON WOULD HAVE HATED YOU-  
_  
 _YOUR DAUGHTER WOULD HAVE HATED YOU-  
_  
 _YOU SHOULD HATE YOU -  
_  
 _SAMANTHA WOULD HAVE HATED YOU-  
_  
 _FUCKING DEVIL, FUCKING EVIL, SELFISH-  
_  
 _DO YOU THINK YOU DESERVE THIS!?  
_  
 _YOUR HUSBAND YOUR SON YOUR DAUGHTER YOUR FRIEND YOUR  
_  
 _Sun still loves you.'_

She smiled through the tears she had been shedding at the conflict reopening inside her. Her sin prevented her from loving herself, from thinking it was possible to. But Sun... he was... complicated. She exhaled and swallowed her bottled emotion once again. Trembling hands flattened on the stall wall and held herself steady. Her arms shook, her legs felt incorporeal, but the last thought...

 _'Sun still loves you.'  
_  
Lusamine sighed.

 _'If he stopped, then you'd have lost your mind...'_

Lusamine rested on the wall, breathing, closing the green eyes she'd forced onto Sun, stroking over the point where Sun had injected her. Her pale skin that she'd put him into, a cocoon to trap him inside and wrap him up in cords and chains of _herself._ But he was free of all the ties and locks now. He'd overcome Lusamine. The question, she thought as she went to return to his side, was if she could.

* * *

Lusamine exhaled and the smoke curled from her lips and out of the window into the sky, the blue, infinite sky. Sun had made clear his distaste for the act but Lusamine had assured him it was just tradition. Every time she visited Kalos she smoked exactly one cigarette, a pattern that had developed the first time she'd returned after her education. She had never been addicted, it just made her feel more like a Kalosian resident. Everyone smoked in the region.

She had one hand on the wheel and the other holding the cigarette out of the window, tapping away ashes that scattered and disintegrated like the past in their wake. They were driving up to Cyllage city from Shalour city, Lusamine having explained that she owned a house in the coastal sector of Kalos.

Sun was sat in the passenger seat, and taking in every little sight the new region had to offer, every Pokémon he couldn't recognise - the excitement quelled the voice of his past trying to scream to him that he was leaving too much behind, that his mother and Lillie and Gladion and Hau were frowning on him right n-

 **"SHUT UP!"** Sun thumped his seat angrily at the insistence of their voices. Lusamine didn't react. She understood him and would let him cope with the issue himself, as he had assured her he could manage with it. He was the definition of schizophrenic, but was dealing with it - even if not in a healthy way. "I'm moving on."

"That's right," Lusamine agreed. "We both are." She had already been encouraged by him to tell him he was doing the right thing time and time again when he was doubting himself. The last twenty four hours had been a hell of a gauntlet to run, but Lusamine had rolled up her nonexistent sleeves and got to work - redistributing Foundation personnel, promoting, organising and enacting one hell of a complex operation to ensure the Paradise was ready to operate sans her. That had been mentally exhausting, but with Sun's hand to hold and his logical and statistical mind to back her up they had achieved the feat nonetheless.

Lusamine had been stealing glances at him since they left. The collar, with the emerald crystal set in it, was back around his neck. She hadn't mentioned it, and he hadn't drawn any attention to it outside of occasionally raising one hand to touch it or adjust where it sat. The purpose of these little looks was to search him for any sign of reluctance or fear, neither of which she'd seen. He'd been so brave. They had stayed up the majority of the night, another sordid, tired affair, but with an unusual glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

Kalos was not a paradise unto itself. Leaving the rustic charm of Shalour city behind had caused the roads and the settlements between routes to become downtrodden and downbeat. It was a world of red brick and tall windows - one of cracked white paint on fences and bent posts holding scuffed traffic signs aloft with pride.

There was a beauty in this reality. Nothing was fake or trying to be what it wasn't, as all had been on the Paradise. This was life, and it was not pure bliss and was not pure evil. Sun was taking it all in. He'd been disconnected from this for too long, from the sky shot with foreboding grey clouds to the leaves that were tossed about in rising winds. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen something simple as a leaf. The trees on the Paradise must have been evergreens, and at that modified in some way to never shed a single leaf. He'd never seen anything that suggested they weren't real, but on reflection they seemed artificial. Hindsight was twenty-twenty.

With his newfound sensitivity to little things, the full-blown sounds and sights of real life set his world alight and made him excited, scared. This wasn't Lusamine's deluded perception of perfect where everything was colour coordinated and preened to her wants. This had its pros and its cons - he felt unchained, like he could be himself again. At the same time he missed the Paradise and how everything there was under control and clinical, how his mother could manage exactly what he was exposed to and keep him safe... at least, in theory. In practice it hadn't been that way.

The window on Sun's side was wound down and he was leaned up against the door, his hair being brushed back by the wind. Lusamine had helped him put it into a ponytail, given it was getting so long at this point. The gusts in his face felt relaxing, calm, inviting, and he could smell scents that he hadn't in forever.

It had been a long, long time since Lusamine had driven anywhere herself and she was a little rusty, but eventually the rental car took them all the way to Kalos's west coast after some stalling and accidentally running a red light - when this had happened Sun had exploded screaming the word _'RED, RED,'_ and Lusamine had had to wind the windows back up and bellow at him to shut up. They'd both laughed about it afterwards.

Lusamine had parked in the Hotel Cyllage lot, having arranged for the car to be collected there by the company instead of having to return it herself. It had cost a premium, but she wasn't going to drop Sun off, drive all the way back and then take a train - the only reason she'd used a car in the first place was so that if Sun had any 'moments' there would be nobody but her to see them. She had been respecting his privacy, not trying to steal those moments of his weakness for herself.

She stepped out into the cold air first. The winter bit deeper into Kalos than it did Alola, and its breath was all-consuming. Sun did not follow. He stayed sat where he was, seatbelt still on, staring into space. Lusamine crossed to his door and opened it for him, leaning on it slightly from her tiredness. Their eyes met through the window and the gaze continued into open air as Sun undid his seatbelt and got out, and the information transmitted through their eyes informed Lusamine of what to say.

"It'll be okay."

They had been sailing into the sun, Kalos's time zone sending them back from night to evening. Lusamine was exhausted from the marathon they'd completed. She just couldn't wait to get some sleep and touch the new days ahead, without the sins of the past to haunt them. Finally, coincidence had been on their side. It had been a coincidence that Nihilego had freed itself from that block of ice and coincidence that Sun had made it to Kalos. They balanced out.

She closed the door behind Sun and he took her hand, rubbing his eyes with his wrist. While he'd had the opportunity to catch naps, they hadn't lasted too long, and he'd be tired too. The coast of Kalos glimmered with dull evening light as Lusamine and Sun crossed Cyllage city.

"Mother..." Sun murmured.

"Yes?" Lusamine asked. Just hearing his weary voice made her breathless knowing that he was all she had and that the bond they shared was a deeply unhealthy one. She was also ready to admit that there was still a hint of predatory interest whenever she thought of him, but she would suppress it. The thoughts existed exterior to her id, looking in from the outside where before all the mess it had been in the driver's seat. Nihilego had turned her over to evil, and not all of that would filter out of her with time alone. She had to heal.

"Thank you for keeping me. Not just... getting rid of me... or wiping my memory again... or killing me." Sun's eyes were half-lidded and drowsy, and he barely spoke the words to completion. He clutched at her hand tightly, needing that support and help she offered. "Thank you."

"What I did..." it felt like a different person had been the one to snatch him and claim him as her own. Maybe Lusamine had to be destroyed in the same manner as Samantha had been. "I'll never be able to make up for it. I don't care if you forgive me... I'll never forgive myself."

"It's... I..." Sun had it on the tip of his tongue, ready to speak it, but he didn't know what it was. He went with his instinct. "You should. You're trying."

"I wouldn't have to try if I'd never done it."

"Then you wouldn't have changed." He wasn't saying that it was for the best. It was a comment that it had taken his metamorphosis and subsequent, albeit incomplete and flawed, return to form for her to see the issue in her actions. "Um... it's messed up, miss Lusamine... but... I think we can be okay? It's..." he echoed his own thoughts upon being kidnapped. "It's okay to pretend."

His grammar was still strange and his word choice was off balance but he was making more sense. It seemed he may be gradually recovering, but it definitely wasn't going to happen all at once. It would take time, and that time could be spent on the coastal mountainside with the waves, the sky and the stone to lament to. They reached the seafront.

"So long as it's just pretending..." Lusamine trailed away. Something felt good. Something, some weight had been lifted from her. They were safe, the walls between reality and Ultra Space standing tall, not weak like they were in Alola - and there was no mad villain with a plot to bring the Ultra Beasts to this world that Lusamine knew of. Not anymore. The threat was over.

 _As she was about to leave, she gave one last glance and noticed something else, something that wasn't a Nihilego. It was jet black, and had a faint glow to it. Gems shone inside its strangely-shaped body and it was glaring right at her with multicolored eyes. It felt like it was reading her mind. With a slow, deliberate movement, it raised one enormous, triangular hand with large, sharp-looking fingers, and pointed one at her. Lusamine felt a chill.  
_  
That thing. That was the only loose end, that monolithic black monstrosity, glowing with necrotic light. Not a Nihilego but existing among them, in their chasm. Nothing from Ultra Space could be good or could represent anything except darkness. The first ever efforts to discover Ultra Beasts were under the code name Project Ozma…

 _Necrozma.  
_  
Because all that the Beasts brought was death, and that was the last of them she would see.

It was how she'd felt when she'd named Nihilego. To the rest of the world, the few that knew of it, it had been Symbiont, but Lusamine found the act of naming a thing to make it further away and closer at the same time.

Necrozma would never be a threat.

Of that she was sure.

It never would.

Would it?

"Mother?" Sun asked. Lusamine jumped, having been put on edge by her own thoughts. "Is something- something wrong?"

"No. Nothing. I-" she tightened her hold on his hand, feeling his fingers, his palm, the warmth of his skin, everything, savouring the touch again. "I love you." The conflict felt settled. She did not want to lose him, and she trusted herself to never take advantage of him. "Thank you for trusting me."

Sun could've said that he didn't have a choice, but the resentment had been bled out of him and replaced by the plaintive want for the parental love she offered.

Their footsteps left marks in the sand. They could see the home Lusamine owned in the distance, no less impressive than the mansion, and no less imposing. Sun couldn't help but think that maybe... maybe the cycle would repeat itself. He slowed down a little, enough for Lusamine to notice.

"Sun?"

"Y-yes, mother?" The little stutter was born of his concerns. The small reservations he still held about the woman beside him. He was looking at her with a new perspective. Not President, not kidnapper, not even truly 'mother,' she was just Samantha Elsa-Mina and she'd been born and grown up like him, she'd been a child once, and hadn't always had her mind so fractured and infested with cancerous evil.

"You're my... my son."

Flaws were fine.

 _'Perfect son?'_ That was unhealthy.

* * *

They'd settled into the house - Sun only wanted to think of it as a house, not a mansion like his prison. It had been dusty and plain. Lusamine had removed all of the photos of her children from her home on the Paradise on kidnapping Sun: there was no way for her to retroactively do the same to her house, so they were met with horrible images of Lillie and Gladion smiling - and not even just Lillie and Gladion, sometimes there were as many as four people in the pictures.

Sun and Lusamine had frozen upon seeing them, staring. It felt like Samantha, Gladion and Lillie were watching and judging. Lusamine had broken away from the unseeing gazes first - she took the pictures off the walls, but didn't pile them up to be destroyed - she collected them to be put somewhere safe. The past had to be remembered and respected. A purely fresh start was as scary a concept as any other that she had explored in the last year. She was only censoring all the pictures for Sun's sake. This was a reminder his dead best friends had led a normal and happy family life until they'd moved to Alola. He didn't need to see that - if it had been only Lusamine she would have endlessly tortured herself for hours under the blank eyes of her unseeing, unfeeling children, deceased because of her own deplorable acts - but she wasn't allowed to, because she was looking after Sun.

What was best for him was best for her. She couldn't hate herself and he couldn't fall into the same trap of self-hate.

Once everything was sorted - once Lusamine had grown accustomed to her own home again and when Sun had 'unpacked' in what was once Gladion's room - despite being given the choice this time of Gladion's or Lillie's - they sat down together in Lusamine's room. The bed looked too big, and it was strange for Sun to see one that wasn't four-poster.

"I'm guessing you want to sleep with me."

"Just... just the first night?"

"Just the first."

"Thank you... mother."

"Come on. It's about time we both had a proper sleep."

* * *

When Lusamine woke, she was alone.

Searching for Sun through the house revealed nothing.

She was panicking.

There was no way to find him without incriminating herself.

What if he'd hurt himself? What if he'd- _what if she-  
_  
She emerged into the early morning barefoot and wearing only a dressing gown over her nightdress - the cold made her teeth chatter.

He was sat on the beach, all three Silvally clustered around him, set to the fire type. Their crimson manes radiated comforting heat.

"Sun?"

"Mother- I- I wasn't trying to run away."

This time he really wasn't. There had been a time where he'd wanted to run, had undone his straps and tried to escape... and yet here he was, comfortable but unsure, happy but afraid. It was a dichotomy, like himself, like herself, like life.

She sat beside him.

The sun began to rise, and the two figures felt the comforting warmth of the rays together, promising them a better tomorrow, and all the time in the world to find peace, quiet and reflection. It didn't care that they may not deserve that blessing - the orange light of a new day spoke the same phrase to everyone awaiting it.

And for one muted moment, Sun felt free again.

Perfect.

* * *

 **The End  
**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading. If you'd like to talk to me about this story, you can leave a review or PM me directly if you'd rather. I have a Tumblr blog, simply called TOGWTOS, if you'd prefer to contact me there. I hope you enjoyed.**


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